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

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data 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. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 2.2 %

WRB stock traded down $1.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.16. 315,207 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,017,508. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $76.38. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $65.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.72. The company has a market cap of $26.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 7.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in W. R. Berkley stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 75.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying 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 filing with the SEC. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.64.

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.