W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.6667.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $71.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $71.64 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $60.68 and a 1 year high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 147,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.63 per share, with a total value of $10,529,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 58,522,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,191,950,486.62. This trade represents a 0.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders acquired 9,675,686 shares of company stock worth $669,388,681 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 8.9% in the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 202,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,496,000 after purchasing an additional 16,450 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,161,000 after acquiring an additional 4,423 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $401,607,000 after acquiring an additional 242,546 shares during the period. American Trust bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,847,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 133.5% in the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 18,022 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More W.R. Berkley News

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder Sumitomo/Mitsui made several purchases this week (multiple filings show buys of 153,000 and 147,000 shares at roughly $71.6–$71.7 per share), signaling increased insider/institutional conviction; the recent disclosed buys total roughly $21M across filings. InsiderTrades Alert
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple news outlets and SEC filings confirm the purchases and show Mitsui Sumitomo increasing a very large base position — buying by a >10% owner is often interpreted by the market as a stabilizing/positive signal for the stock. Investing.com Article
• Neutral Sentiment: W.R. Berkley recently declared a small quarterly dividend ($0.09/share; $0.36 annualized, ~0.5% yield) with a low payout ratio — likely supportive but not a major catalyst given the small yield. Yahoo Finance
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst actions remain mixed-to-cautious: several firms have trimmed price targets and TD Cowen notably cut WRB to a sell with a much lower $55 target — these downgrades cap upside and may keep some traders sidelined. The company also posted a small quarterly EPS miss in late January. MarketBeat Coverage

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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.