TD Cowen Downgrades W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) to Sell

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was downgraded by equities researchers at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday. They presently have a $55.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s price target suggests a potential downside of 18.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WRB. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $84.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $71.47.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WRB stock traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $67.80. The company had a trading volume of 267,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,183,549. The stock has a market cap of $25.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.70 and a 200-day moving average of $72.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $56.86 and a 12 month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 325,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $68.03 per share, for a total transaction of $22,109,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 52,496,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,571,337,167.12. This trade represents a 0.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 4,454,916 shares of company stock worth $309,561,870. 23.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.