Markets have tumbled and stocks to buy are in short supply. But apart from China stocks that are rallying, insurance firms like W.R. Berkley are faring well. W.R. Berkley stock is Tuesday's selection for IBD 50 Stocks To Watch.
W.R. Berkley stock broke out of a cup-with-handle base with a buy point of 63.98 on Monday. That is impressive in the current market conditions when several leaders are struggling to get past key moving averages or are in downtrends.
The weekly stock chart on Investor's Business Daily's premium research platform, IBD MarketSurge, also shows a blue dot which indicates that the relative strength line is at a new high.
Shares rallied after fourth-quarter results on Jan. 27 to build the current base. Sales growth increased to 14% as revenue came in at $3.7 billion while earnings grew an impressive 16% to $1.13 per share. In the prior quarter, sales grew 12% to $3.4 billion while earnings of 93 cents per share were 3% higher than the prior year.
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W.R. Berkley is a holding company and provides property and casualty insurance for businesses in several industries such as agriculture, construction, energy, professional services, and retail and wholesale businesses. It also offers reinsurance products.
The insurance sector has been the fourth-best performer thus far in 2025. The property and casualty insurance group ranks 24th among 197 industry groups in the Investor's Business Daily database. It has moved up from 54th place in six weeks.
As another example of the industry's prosperity, seasoned investor Warren Buffett was reported to have described the improvement in Berkshire Hathaway's property and casualty insurance holding Geico as "spectacular" in 2024.
Strong Ratings For W.R. Berkley Stock
The insurance stock holds a near-ideal Composite Rating of 97 and EPS Rating of 91, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The Relative Strength Rating of 84 also indicates the stock has outperformed the vast majority of stocks in the IBD database over the past 52 weeks. The rating also shows improvement from four weeks ago when it stood at 60.
Mutual funds own 50% of outstanding shares. A rising number of funds have been net buyers of W.R. Berkley stock over the past two quarters.
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Funds have also been buying shares over the last 13 weeks, giving W.R. Berkley stock an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of B-. The Janus Henderson Enterprise Fund (JAENX) holds shares of W.R. Berkley stock. The fund is part of the IBD mutual fund index.
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