Zacks Research Has Negative View of W.R. Berkley Q2 Earnings

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) – Research analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q2 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of W.R. Berkley in a report released on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the insurance provider will earn $1.05 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.08. The consensus estimate for W.R. Berkley’s current full-year earnings is $4.64 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W.R. Berkley’s FY2026 earnings at $4.63 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.04 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $1.12 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $1.35 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $5.03 EPS.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The company’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on WRB. Argus downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Bank of America cut their price target on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on W.R. Berkley from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.81.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:WRB opened at $66.52 on Wednesday. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $63.67 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.83.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 112,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the purchase, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,243,948,490. This represents a 0.19% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 2,203,798 shares of company stock worth $156,970,121. Corporate insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 3.5% during the first quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. JSF Financial LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. JSF Financial LLC now owns 18,525 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares during the period. Florida Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,768,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $249,757,000 after purchasing an additional 129,801 shares during the period. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth $3,945,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.