Zacks Research Forecasts Increased Earnings for W.R. Berkley

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research raised their FY2026 EPS estimates for W.R. Berkley in a research note issued on Thursday, August 27th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the insurance provider will earn $4.82 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $4.78. The consensus estimate for W.R. Berkley’s current full-year earnings is $4.84 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W.R. Berkley’s Q2 2027 earnings at $1.12 EPS and Q1 2028 earnings at $1.44 EPS.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Atlantic Securities set a $74.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (up from $67.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $77.00 price target (up from $71.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.6%

WRB stock opened at $68.27 on Friday. W.R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $62.87 and a 1-year high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $71.18 and its 200-day moving average is $68.87. The firm has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,542,919,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 7,152.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 22,454,989 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,583,750,000 after purchasing an additional 22,145,374 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,921,114 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,143,256,000 after purchasing an additional 149,605 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $435,752,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,913,337 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $344,523,000 after purchasing an additional 20,538 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.21%.

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.