W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Raised to “Hold” at Mizuho

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was upgraded by Mizuho to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.93.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $68.74. 276,027 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,193,400. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.20 and a 200 day moving average of $72.75. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The company had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 22.3% in the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,997 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $569,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.