Zacks Research Reduces Earnings Estimates for W. R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) – Zacks Research cut their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for W. R. Berkley in a research report issued on Tuesday, October 15th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now anticipates that the insurance provider will post earnings of $0.91 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.95. The consensus estimate for W. R. Berkley’s current full-year earnings is $4.02 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W. R. Berkley’s FY2024 earnings at $3.97 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.04 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.03 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $4.27 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.11 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.11 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.62 EPS.

WRB has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.64.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $61.04 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.54. W. R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $41.82 and a fifty-two week high of $61.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth about $744,000. CHB Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth approximately $2,880,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 52.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 33,222 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 11,453 shares during the last quarter. NatWest Group plc increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 77.5% during the third quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 100,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,689,000 after purchasing an additional 43,787 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 45.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 17,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 5,479 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.