Q3 EPS Estimates for W.R. Berkley Lifted by Zacks Research

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Zacks Research lifted their Q3 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for W.R. Berkley in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, June 24th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now forecasts that the insurance provider will earn $1.15 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.14. The consensus estimate for W.R. Berkley's current full-year earnings is $4.33 per share.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.64.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of WRB opened at $71.75 on Thursday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $72.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.48. W.R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $51.41 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $27.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,132,262,000 after acquiring an additional 529,294 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.6% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,787,639 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $838,808,000 after purchasing an additional 65,163 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,694,703 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $449,168,000 after purchasing an additional 103,350 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 21.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $357,368,000 after buying an additional 900,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,787,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $280,156,000 after buying an additional 632,578 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.35%.

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.

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