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

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 Thursday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.13.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $65.53 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.34%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 79.9% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently 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.