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

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WRB. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $61.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $65.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

About W. R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.