W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.07 EPS

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07), Zacks reports. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock traded down $1.45 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $67.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,828,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,799,328. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.42. The firm has a market cap of $25.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.59.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in W. R. Berkley stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 75.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About W. R. Berkley

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.