W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

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

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WRB. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.21.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.7 %

WRB stock opened at $69.73 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.44 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. State Street Corp increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $857,814,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947,830 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $272,582,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,227 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 47.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $429,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,073 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.