StockNews.com Upgrades W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) to “Buy”

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.82.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock traded up $0.60 on Wednesday, reaching $58.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,224,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,524,371. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $22.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $47.59 and a twelve month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,084,000. Pensionfund Sabic raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 23,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,390,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 25,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,479 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,627 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.