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

by · The Markets Daily

StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

WRB has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

Get Our Latest Report on W. R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $62.34 on Friday. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (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%. Analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 0.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Aurdan Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,534,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 161,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,452,000 after purchasing an additional 59,694 shares in the last quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,155,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,081,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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