Bank of America Reaffirms Underperform Rating for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB)

by · The Markets Daily

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reissued by equities researchers at Bank of America in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $68.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $74.00. Bank of America‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 2.73% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $62.00 price objective (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $70.00.

View Our Latest Research Report on W.R. Berkley

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $69.91 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.32. The stock has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. W.R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 80,208 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,657,000 after buying an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. Tema ETFs LLC increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 19,910 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 42.8% in the 2nd quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 9,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 14.8% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 81,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,734,000 after buying an additional 10,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Capital Advisors llc lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.2% in the second quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 20,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About W.R. Berkley

(Get Free Report)

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.

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