The stock market is offering few buying opportunities as President Donald Trump's tariffs are hitting various sectors, causing the S&P 500 benchmark index to crumble. Insurance stocks have been among the better performers, and of that group, W.R. Berkley is notable as it nears a buy zone.
W.R. Berkley is a holding company and provides property and casualty insurance for businesses in several industries. It also offers reinsurance products.
Collectively, the property and casualty insurance group has moved up in rankings rapidly. From 99th place just six weeks back, the group has moved up to 27th place among the 197 industry groups followed by Investor's Business Daily.
W.R. Berkley stock rallied after fourth quarter results on Jan. 27 to build a cup-with-handle base that has a buy point of 63.98. The buy zone goes up to 67.18. The daily and weekly stock charts also show a blue dot which indicates that the relative strength line is at a new high.
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According to IBD Stock Checkup, W.R. Berkley ranks third in the property and casualty insurance group among 24 stocks. Further, sales and earnings growth has been steady over the past seven quarters. For the fourth quarter, sales grew 14% to $3.7 billion while earnings per share of $1.13 increased 16% from the prior year.
W.R. Berkley Stock: Near-Ideal Composite Rating
The insurance stock holds a near-ideal Composite Rating of 98 and EPS Rating of 91. The Relative Strength Rating of 85 also indicates the stock has outperformed the vast majority of stocks in the IBD database over the past 52 weeks.
Mutual funds own 50% of outstanding shares. More funds have been net buyers of the stock over the past two quarters.
Funds have also been buying shares over the last 13 weeks, giving the 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.
Market Struggles: A Time To Build Watchlists
While the markets struggle, investors should keep in mind that sentiment can change quickly and it is never a bad time to build watchlists.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit new lows for the year on Monday and remain well below the 200-day moving average. That calls for risk management and protecting investment portfolios by selling stocks.
But that does not mean that there are no buying opportunities.
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IBD MarketSurge's chart analysis tools offer some clues. Stocks that are breaking out of bases or are in buy zones are prime candidates. That is because breakouts have frequently preceded big price moves.
But it is also important to combine that positive action with Investor's Business Daily's stock ratings and industry rankings. Further, high ratings and rank can improve the rate of success in finding the next winners.
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