W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald

Key Points

• W.R. Berkley has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by Cantor Fitzgerald, indicating a positive outlook for the company's stock.
• Despite the upgrade, W.R. Berkley faced mixed opinions from other analysts, with one "sell" rating, ten "hold" ratings, and two "buy" ratings, resulting in a consensus rating of "hold."
• W.R. Berkley reported earnings of $1.05 per share last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and illustrating a strong financial performance.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Cantor Fitzgerald to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

WRB has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $71.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. W.R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $55.80 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.14.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Analysts predict that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,961,788 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,715,583,000 after purchasing an additional 625,685 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,787,639 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $838,808,000 after purchasing an additional 65,163 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,189,248 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $599,271,000 after purchasing an additional 289,172 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $534,438,000 after purchasing an additional 577,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $357,368,000 after purchasing an additional 900,071 shares in the last quarter. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.