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

StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered W. R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.59.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $68.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.01. 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 has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 68.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 116,767 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,624,000 after buying an additional 47,515 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 9,061 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 12,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 72.6% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,574,000 after buying an additional 41,320 shares in the last quarter. 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.