W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $64.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.88.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 2.2%

WRB opened at $66.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.35. W.R. Berkley has a one year low of $62.63 and a one year high of $78.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $68.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.62.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 112,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $72.20 per share, with a total value of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,780,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,243,948,490. This represents a 0.19% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have bought 8,443,939 shares of company stock worth $583,547,362 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 104.1% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,735,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $121,934,000 after purchasing an additional 885,417 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 282,266 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,793,000 after buying an additional 37,999 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,730 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 35,525 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,491,000 after buying an additional 11,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dean Capital Management raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 33,170 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,326,000 after buying an additional 1,013 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.