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

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

WRB has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $64.17 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.52 and a 200-day moving average of $59.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $24.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $65.49.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.8% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,085 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth approximately $235,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 623.7% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,556 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 1,341 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.6% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $991,000 after buying an additional 5,304 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 59.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 47,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 17,878 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.