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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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 on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.74.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $59.57 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $48.69 and a 52-week high of $65.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.52. The company has a market capitalization of $22.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 102.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 105,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,190,000 after acquiring an additional 53,621 shares in the last quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 255,219 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,298,000 after purchasing an additional 14,672 shares in the last quarter. Genesis Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $470,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 6,454 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,587 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.