Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Price

Key Points

• Bank of America cut its price target on W.R. Berkley to $67 (from $68) and kept a "neutral" rating, implying roughly a 1.7% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst coverage is cautious — three Buys, eleven Holds and four Sells produce a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Reduce" with a consensus target of $68.75.
• Insiders and institutions are buying: Sumitomo Mitsui acquired 370,000 shares (~$24.8M), insiders now own 23.3% and institutional ownership is about 68.8%, despite recent weakness (WRB trading near $65.87).

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $68.00 to $67.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Bank of America's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 1.72% from the company's current price.

WRB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut W.R. Berkley from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays cut their price target on W.R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $68.75.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 1.6%

WRB traded down $1.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $65.87. The stock had a trading volume of 495,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,230,360. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $24.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.37. The stock's 50 day moving average is $68.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.12. W.R. Berkley has a one year low of $63.67 and a one year high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for 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 18.17%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 370,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.07 per share, for a total transaction of $24,815,900.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 54,959,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. The trade was a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 6,243,946 shares of company stock valued at $431,131,438. 23.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,542,919,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth approximately $682,816,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $435,752,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 35,572.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,219,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $155,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,213,679 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,892,799 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $374,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,363 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

About W.R. Berkley

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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