W.R. Berkley’s (WRB) Sell Rating Reaffirmed at TD Cowen

TD Cowen restated their sell rating on shares of W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $55.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $77.00.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on WRB. Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 target price (down previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore ISI set a $69.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $71.47.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $67.72 on Tuesday. W.R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $56.86 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.39. 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 $71.53 and its 200-day moving average is $72.14.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.56%.

Insider Transactions at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 325,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $68.03 per share, with a total value of $22,109,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 52,496,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,571,337,167.12. The trade was a 0.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 4,454,916 shares of company stock valued at $309,561,870. Company insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 399.0% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 7,601 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 109.7% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,686 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,695,000 after acquiring an additional 27,042 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 19.5% during the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,987 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 3,098 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by 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.