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

Wall Street Zen cut shares of W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Sunday.

WRB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $64.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Bank of America cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $71.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.88.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $64.69 on Friday. W.R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $62.63 and a 1-year high of $78.96. The company has a market cap of $24.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.09%.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 112,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,243,948,490. The trade was a 0.19% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders purchased 8,443,939 shares of company stock worth $583,547,362 over the last three months. Company insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 140.0% in the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About W.R. Berkley

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.