W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Downgraded by Argus to Hold

Key Points

• Argus downgraded W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from "buy" to "hold," and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Reduce" with an average price target of $68.88 (13 Holds, 3 Sells, 2 Buys).
• W.R. Berkley beat Q1 expectations with EPS of $1.30 (vs. $1.13 est.) and revenue of $3.69B (vs. $3.18B est.), reporting a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 12.64%.
• Major shareholder Sumitomo bought 350,000 shares in January, insiders acquired 3.78M shares over the past three months, insiders now own ~23% of the stock and institutional investors own about 68.8%.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Argus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on WRB. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of W.R. Berkley from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday. Brean Capital lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $73.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $68.88.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $65.67 on Monday. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $63.67 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.49. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $24.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 12.64%.The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. W.R. Berkley's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 350,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.42 per share, with a total value of $23,597,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 55,309,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,728,966,759.68. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders acquired 3,780,946 shares of company stock worth $264,244,958. 23.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $15,496,000 after buying an additional 16,450 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $401,607,000 after buying an additional 242,546 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 133.5% during the third 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 last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,762,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 376.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 48,119 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,687,000 after purchasing an additional 38,013 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.