W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $77.85 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $55.50 and a 12-month high of $89.18. The company has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $84.47 and its 200-day moving average is $76.21.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.63.

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.