W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB stock opened at $75.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $28.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.94. W.R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $55.97 and a 52 week high of $78.48.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.56%.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 9.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.3% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 24,629 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 6.3% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 10.4% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,189 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.77.

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.