W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

WRB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered W. R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.59.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $68.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.98. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 79.9% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in 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.