Cantor Fitzgerald Issues Pessimistic Forecast for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Price

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its target price decreased by Cantor Fitzgerald from $74.00 to $71.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald‘s price target suggests a potential downside of 3.22% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $68.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (up from $71.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wolfe Research lowered W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $70.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $70.44.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $73.36 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.35. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $27.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.27.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 10.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,972,929 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $263,326,000 after purchasing an additional 377,742 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,768,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $249,757,000 after buying an additional 129,801 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 23.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,904,522 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $192,512,000 after buying an additional 550,560 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 104.1% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,735,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $121,934,000 after buying an additional 885,417 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $105,639,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W.R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that operates through a group of specialized insurance businesses. The company primarily provides commercial property and casualty insurance, serving businesses, organizations and other commercial customers with coverage tailored to specific industries and risks.

Its products and services include workers’ compensation, commercial automobile, property, general liability, professional liability, directors and officers liability, excess and surplus lines, and other specialty insurance products.