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

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) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 11th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.09 per share by the insurance provider on Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd.

W.R. Berkley has a dividend payout ratio of 6.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Price Performance

Shares of WRB stock traded up $1.69 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $73.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,644,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,893,362. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $55.80 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's fifty day moving average is $70.39 and its 200 day moving average is $69.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WRB. Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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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