W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Announces Earnings Results

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

W. R. Berkley stock traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.47. 1,814,722 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,771,303. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. W. R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $51.13 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in W. R. Berkley stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 75.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

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.