Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $62.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential downside of 3.20% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered W. R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.13.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

W. R. Berkley stock traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.05. 483,227 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,790,504. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $76.38. The company has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.71. 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 released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 79.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

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.