W. R. Berkley (WRB) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

W. R. Berkley Corporation was founded in 1967 by W.R. Berkley with the goal of creating sustainable, long-term value. As of November 2022, Mr. Berkley remained as executive chairman with his son W.R. Berkley Jr. in the CEO's office. The company is based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and operates as an insurance holding company in the U.S. and internationally. It is one of the largest commercial lines insurers in the US and has more than 190 offices worldwide.
 
The company’s operations have grown steadily since its founding, including several key acquisitions. The company now operates in two segments which are Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance businesses of all varieties. The Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segment provides reinsurance services to other insurance agencies and self-insured organizations. W. R. Berkley Corporation went public in 1973 and is now listed 397th on the Forbes Fortune 500 list.
 
There are more than 50 businesses operating under the Berkley umbrella. They each capitalize on niche markets that require specialized knowledge about industries, regions, or business structures. The company’s goal is to create peace of mind, both by simplifying the insurance buying process and by providing the insurance products its customers need.
 
W. R. Berkley was added to the S&P 500 in 2019. The company’s market cap grew more than 20% or over $1 billion in the first year alone. As of November 2022, the company is worth upwards of $19.5 billion or more than a 200% increase since its launch. The company’s underlying insurance businesses are all rated A+ by Standard & Poors and A.M. Best.
 
Some of the key businesses and industries served by W.R. Berkley include but are not limited to agribusiness, cannabis, energy, environmental, hospitality, manufacturing, public entity, retail, and transportation. Some of the products offered include but are not limited to workers' compensation, general liability, commercial auto & trucking, accident & health, cyber, and property. In 2021, the company brought in more than $9.5 billion in revenue and produced a 16.2% return on stockholders' equity.



Written by Jeffrey Neal Johnson

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $60.24 to $61.29
• 50-Day Range: $56.39 to $61.04
• 52-Week Range: $41.82 to $61.29
• Volume: 2.52 million shs
• Average Volume: 1.76 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $23.41 billion
• P/E Ratio: 16.01
• Dividend Yield: 0.52%
• Price Target: $61.64
• Consensus Rating: Hold

W. R. Berkley Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

W. R. Berkley scored higher than 95% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 73rd out of 910 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.2 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

W. R. Berkley has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.33, and is based on 5 buy ratings, 6 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

W. R. Berkley has been the subject of 7 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 6.47%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for W. R. Berkley are expected to grow by 6.47% in the coming year, from $4.02 to $4.28 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of W. R. Berkley is 16.01, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 133.32.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of W. R. Berkley is 16.01, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 46.92.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

W. R. Berkley has a PEG Ratio of 1.07. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

W. R. Berkley has a P/B Ratio of 3.16. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.60% of the outstanding shares of W. R. Berkley have been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

W. R. Berkley has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.5, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in W. R. Berkley has recently decreased by 12.82%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

W. R. Berkley has a dividend yield of 0.54%, which is in the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

W. R. Berkley has been increasing its dividend for 23 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of W. R. Berkley is 8.51%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, W. R. Berkley will have a dividend payout ratio of 7.48% next year. This indicates that W. R. Berkley will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 2.1 / 5
• Environmental Score: -0.50

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.60% of the outstanding shares of W. R. Berkley have been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

W. R. Berkley has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.5, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in W. R. Berkley has recently decreased by 12.82%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.2 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.74

News Sentiment

W. R. Berkley has a news sentiment score of 0.74. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.64 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 19 news articles for W. R. Berkley this week, compared to 6 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

4 people have searched for WRB on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 33% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 2 people have added W. R. Berkley to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of 0% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, W. R. Berkley insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

23.00% of the stock of W. R. Berkley is held by insiders. A high percentage of insider ownership can be a sign of company health.

Percentage Held by Institutions

68.82% of the stock of W. R. Berkley is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

WRB Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have WRB shares performed this year?

W. R. Berkley's stock was trading at $47.1467 at the beginning of 2024. Since then, WRB shares have increased by 29.5% and is now trading at $61.04.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were W. R. Berkley's earnings last quarter?

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July, 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year.
Read the conference call transcript.

When did W. R. Berkley's stock split?

W. R. Berkley shares split before market open on Wednesday, July 10th 2024. The 3-2 split was announced on Wednesday, June 12th 2024. The newly minted shares were payable to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, July 9th 2024. An investor that had 100 shares of stock prior to the split would have 150 shares after the split.

Does W. R. Berkley have any subsidiaries?

W. R. Berkley subsidiaries include Intrepid Insurance Company, American Mining Insurance Company, Garnet Captive Services, 120dB Films Capital LLC, 120dB Films Lending LLC, 34 Leadenhall Street Limited, 52 Lime Street Management Limited, and more.

Who are W. R. Berkley's major shareholders?

W. R. Berkley's top institutional shareholders include CWM LLC (0.09%), Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. (0.06%), Gateway Investment Advisers LLC (0.03%) and NatWest Group plc (0.03%).
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of W. R. Berkley?

Shares of WRB stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

What other stocks do shareholders of W. R. Berkley own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that W. R. Berkley investors own include Chevron (CVX), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), McKesson (MCK), Comcast (CMCSA), Charles Schwab (SCHW), Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and Yum! Brands (YUM).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/22/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 9/30 Dividend: 9/23/2024
• Dividend Payable: 9/30/2024
• Today: 10/17/2024
• Next Earnings (Confirmed): 10/21/2024
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2024

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: Fire, marine, & casualty insurance
• Sub-Industry: Property & Casualty Insurance
• Current Symbol: NYSE:WRB
• CUSIP: 08442310
• CIK: 11544
• Web: www.wrberkley.com
• Phone: (203) 629-3000
• Fax: 203-629-3073
• Employees: 8,329
• Year Founded: 1967

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $61.64
• High Stock Price Target: $73.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $55.33
• Potential Upside/Downside: +0.4%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.33
• Research Coverage: 12 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $3.76
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 16.01
• Forward P/E Ratio: 15.18
• P/E Growth: 1.07
• Net Income: $1.38 billion
• Net Margins: 12.05%
• Pretax Margin: 15.46%
• Return on Equity: 21.34%
• Return on Assets: 4.26%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.36
• Current Ratio: 0.38
• Quick Ratio: 0.38

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $12.84 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.82
• Cash Flow: $3.60 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 16.95
• Book Value: $19.31 per share
• Price / Book: 3.16

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 383,493,000
• Free Float: 293,024,000
• Market Cap: $23.41 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.62