W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price target (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $71.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $69.93 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $60.68 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The company has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.35.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 112,176 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $72.20 per share, with a total value of $8,099,107.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares in the company, valued at $4,243,948,490. This trade represents a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have acquired a total of 9,933,862 shares of company stock valued at $688,134,108 in the last quarter. Insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,542,919,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth about $682,816,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $435,752,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 6,503.1% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,561,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $188,174,000 after acquiring an additional 2,601,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 35,572.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,219,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $155,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,213,679 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.