W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on WRB. Barclays increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating 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 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.36.

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W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE WRB traded down $0.38 on Tuesday, reaching $63.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,066,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,649,549. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.86 and a 200-day moving average of $59.90. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $65.49. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $85,853,000 after buying an additional 444,986 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 12,830 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 43,350 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 14,750 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.