W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Downgraded by Argus to “Hold”

Argus cut shares of W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.81.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $66.17 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $67.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.41. W.R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $63.67 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The company has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 12.64%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 112,176 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $72.20 per share, with a total value of $8,099,107.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,243,948,490. This trade represents a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders have bought 3,430,946 shares of company stock valued at $240,647,958. Insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 140.0% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

About W.R. Berkley

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.