W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $66.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.07. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $66.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. On average, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,853,000 after acquiring an additional 444,986 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 12,830 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after buying an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 72.6% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,574,000 after buying an additional 41,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after acquiring an additional 15,664 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About W. R. Berkley

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.