Wall Street Zen Downgrades W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) to Sell

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

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WRB. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.88.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $64.69 on Friday. The firm 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. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $62.63 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.68. 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 (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.W.R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 112,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the purchase, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,243,948,490. This trade represents a 0.19% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 8,648,939 shares of company stock valued at $598,055,212. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 140.0% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.