W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Key Points

• W.R. Berkley reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.10, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.07, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 10.8%.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.5%.
• Despite positive earnings, W.R. Berkley shares fell 0.5% to $73.69, with a current market capitalization of $27.95 billion.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $73.69 on Tuesday. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $78.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $73.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.92. The company has a market cap of $27.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 399.0% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 7,601 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 691.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,825 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $87.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $73.69.

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.