W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Lowered to Neutral Rating by Brean Capital

Brean Capital cut shares of W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $73.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $55.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group set a $71.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.88.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.8%

WRB opened at $64.50 on Wednesday. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $62.63 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35.

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

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 370,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired 8,868,939 shares of company stock valued at $613,578,412 in the last ninety days. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 202,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,496,000 after acquiring an additional 16,450 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $401,607,000 after acquiring an additional 242,546 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 133.5% in the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 18,022 shares during the last quarter. American Trust acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,847,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the third quarter worth approximately $3,762,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.