W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $63.65 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The company has a market capitalization of $24.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.75 and a 200 day moving average of $59.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $915,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About W. R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.