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

Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.6667.

Several research firms have commented on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. TD Cowen lowered 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 report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Argus lowered their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $70.97 on Tuesday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $69.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $60.68 and a 1 year high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.07 per share, for a total transaction of $24,815,900.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 54,959,504 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. This represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders purchased a total of 8,822,032 shares of company stock worth $608,511,512 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 9.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 399.0% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 7,601 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,161,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 19,569 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,438,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.