W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

WRB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore set a $69.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Argus cut their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $69.93 on Friday. W.R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $60.68 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.35.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. The trade was a 0.68% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 9,933,862 shares of company stock worth $688,134,108. Insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 140.0% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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.