W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Rating Upgraded by 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 note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of WRB stock opened at $56.71 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.51. W. R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $41.37 and a 52 week high of $61.28. The stock has a market cap of $21.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 28,747 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after buying an additional 14,933 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 8,332 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 964,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,139,000 after purchasing an additional 19,161 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $455,000. Finally, JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.