Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Price

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Barclays from $56.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 12.88% from the company’s current price.

WRB has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.82.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.3 %

WRB stock opened at $57.39 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $47.59 and a 12 month high of $65.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.22. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, PFS Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.