W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.6667.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.20 per share, for a total transaction of $1,755,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 56,418,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,960,589,651.20. The trade was a 0.04% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought 7,612,068 shares of company stock worth $522,913,948 over the last quarter. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 92,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,490,000 after buying an additional 5,065 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $697,000. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,801,000. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $345,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 7,005 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $71.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $27.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $59.55 and a 1 year high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.09%.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.