W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Downgraded to Hold Rating by TD Cowen

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $78.00 target price on the insurance provider's stock. TD Cowen's target price points to a potential upside of 6.09% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on WRB. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.42.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB traded up $1.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $73.52. 1,537,342 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,853,357. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.70. W.R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $51.41 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 12.43%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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.