W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on WRB. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, March 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $71.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $65.76 on Friday. W.R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $62.63 and a 12-month high of $78.96. 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 company has a market cap of $24.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.94.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 370,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. The trade was a 0.68% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have bought a total of 9,525,512 shares of company stock valued at $659,778,305 in the last 90 days. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Maridea Wealth Management LLC grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% during the third quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.3% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.