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

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

WRB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:WRB traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $60.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,455,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,079,700. The stock has a market cap of $23.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. The business's 50 day moving average is $59.52 and its 200 day moving average is $58.84. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $857,814,000 after acquiring an additional 4,947,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $642,294,000 after buying an additional 3,825,238 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $429,266,000 after buying an additional 2,459,073 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $417,897,000 after buying an additional 2,616,227 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.