W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

WRB has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $64.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. On average, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 44.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 11,796 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 3,647 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 57.0% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 36,857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 13,385 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 99.3% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,733 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 5,847 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $99,055,000 after purchasing an additional 42,834 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 34.7% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 303,567 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,221,000 after buying an additional 78,146 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

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.