W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.07 EPS

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) released its earnings results on Monday. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07), Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $70.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $64.86 and a 200-day moving average of $61.55. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in W. R. Berkley stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 75.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on WRB shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.90.

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.