W. R. Berkley initiated with an Underweight at Barclays

Barclays analyst Alex Scott initiated coverage of W. R. Berkley with an Underweight rating and $56 price target. The firm initiated 19 property and casualty insurers and brokers with a Neutral industry view. Barclays’ “selective approach is focused on navigating both the opportunities and lagged pressures” from litigation-related inflation as well as a property market with peaking profitability. The analyst recommends property-heavy companies where secondary peril catastrophes are contained and base case book value per share compounding is strong relative to discounted valuations. The firm is less optimistic on personal auto due to what it sees as full valuations and the potential emergence of a softer market over the next 12 months. Its top ideas are Chubb (CB), Travelers (TRV), Everest Group (EG) and Ryan Specialty (RYAN). Its Underweights are Allstate (ALL), W.R. Berkley (WRB) and WTW (WTW).