W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Cut to $76.00 by Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald

by · The Markets Daily

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.14% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WRB. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price target (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Mizuho set a $67.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $69.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

View Our Latest Research Report on WRB

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB traded up $1.64 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 137,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,137,058. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.39. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $56.86 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $72.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.27.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 275,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $68.95 per share, for a total transaction of $18,961,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,915,463 shares in the company, valued at $3,579,571,173.85. This represents a 0.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have bought 3,108,875 shares of company stock worth $217,295,222 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.

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