W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

A number of other analysts have also commented on WRB. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $61.62 on Monday. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $65.49. The stock has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.20 and a 200 day moving average of $59.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. 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.