Bank of America Reiterates “Underperform” Rating for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB)

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Bank of America in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $68.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $74.00. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential downside of 5.28% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WRB. Wolfe Research cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group set a $68.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $71.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.34. The company has a market cap of $26.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.29. W.R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $62.87 and a 52-week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $2,801,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,630,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 118,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,336,000 after acquiring an additional 18,820 shares during the period. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 105.4% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 29,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 15,240 shares during the period. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,233,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.