W.R. Berkley Corporation (WRB) To Go Ex-Dividend on June 23rd

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.10 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a 11.1% increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09.

W.R. Berkley has raised its dividend by an average of 0.5%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 23 years. W.R. Berkley has a payout ratio of 8.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect W.R. Berkley to earn $4.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.3%.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.1%

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $67.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W.R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $62.87 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The stock has a market cap of $25.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $66.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.16.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. Wall Street Zen upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.31.

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.