W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) released its earnings results on Monday. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.62% and a net margin of 12.05%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.2 %

WRB stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.29. 2,153,788 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,809,625. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.61. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $40.25 and a 52-week high of $59.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $54.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $58.67 to $57.33 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $55.33 to $59.33 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.07.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

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.