W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $77.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $55.50 and a twelve month high of $89.18. The company has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.22.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.63.

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.