W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was upgraded by equities researchers 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 subject of several other reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.44.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.1 %

WRB traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $79.16. 561,880 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,184,873. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $79.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.89. The company has a market cap of $20.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.61. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $57.79 and a one year high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley’s stock is going to split before the market opens on Wednesday, July 10th. The 3-2 split was announced on Wednesday, June 12th. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, July 9th.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.51% and a net margin of 12.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 5.82 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ING Groep NV grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 7,669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 145 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.