W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.09

Key Points

• W.R. Berkley Corporation has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for September 22nd and payment scheduled for September 30th.
• The company maintains a dividend payout ratio of 6.7%, indicating that its earnings sufficiently cover the dividend, with expectations for future earnings at $4.71 per share.
• Brokerages have varying ratings on W.R. Berkley, with one rating it a strong buy and others offering price targets ranging from $68 to $80.

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.09 per share by the insurance provider on Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd.

W.R. Berkley has a dividend payout ratio of 6.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect W.R. Berkley to earn $4.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.8%.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded down $1.33 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,552,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,362,648. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $55.80 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $70.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.41.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.54.

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.