W. R. Berkley - WRB Stock Forecast, Price & News

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writer in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including premises operations, commercial automobile, property, products liability, and general and professional liability lines. It also provides workers' compensation insurance products; accident and health insurance and reinsurance products; insurance for commercial risks; specialty environmental products for contractors, consultants, and property owners and facilities operators; specialized insurance coverages for fine arts and jewelry exposures; umbrella and excess liability coverage products; and liquor liability and inland marine coverage for small to medium-sized insureds. In addition, this segment offers directors and officers, and surety risk products, as well as products for technology, and life sciences and travel industries; cyber risk solutions; casualty, group life, and crime and fidelity related insurance products; personal lines insurance solutions, including home, condo/co-op, auto, and collectibles; automobile, law enforcement, public officials and educator's legal, and employment practices liability, as well as incidental medical insurance products; and at-risk and alternative risk insurance program management services. The Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segment provides other insurance companies and self-insureds with assistance in managing their net risk through reinsurance on a portfolio basis through treaty reinsurance or on an individual basis through facultative reinsurance. W. R. Berkley Corporation was founded in 1967 and is based in Greenwich, Connecticut.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $66.28 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.67 and a 200-day moving average of $65.28. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $47.13 and a 1-year high of $72.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.65.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.28. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 17.26%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 7th. Investors of record on Monday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from W. R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 24th. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WRB. Argus began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, August 3rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley to $83.00 in a report on Friday, July 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.33 to $83.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Ellwood Brockbank acquired 1,434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $61.85 per share, for a total transaction of $88,692.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $371,100. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 22.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.