Research Analysts Issue Forecasts for W. R. Berkley Co.’s Q1 2024 Earnings (NYSE:WRB)

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, April 15th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now anticipates that the insurance provider will earn $1.47 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.46. The consensus estimate for W. R. Berkley’s current full-year earnings is $5.98 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W. R. Berkley’s Q2 2024 earnings at $1.45 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $1.43 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.56 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $5.92 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.74 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.83 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.57 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.54 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $6.68 EPS.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 11.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on WRB. Evercore ISI raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of WRB opened at $80.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average of $84.47 and a 200 day moving average of $75.61. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $89.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 55.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,331,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,620,232,000 after purchasing an additional 8,664,707 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 4.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $829,511,000 after purchasing an additional 529,817 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 65.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,940,770 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $795,136,000 after purchasing an additional 4,732,333 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 4.6% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 6,819,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $432,946,000 after purchasing an additional 302,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,793,764 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $409,735,000 after purchasing an additional 154,468 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.70%.

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.