W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

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

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of WRB opened at $63.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $65.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. PFS Partners LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by 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.