W. R. Berkley (WRB) Competitors

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) and Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation, community ranking, profitability and institutional ownership.

Do analysts recommend WRB or TRV?

W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus price target of $70.06, indicating a potential downside of 4.65%. Travelers Companies has a consensus price target of $270.42, indicating a potential downside of 1.19%. Given Travelers Companies' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Travelers Companies is more favorable than W. R. Berkley.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W. R. Berkley	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Travelers Companies	3 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.19

Is WRB or TRV more profitable?

W. R. Berkley has a net margin of 12.88% compared to Travelers Companies' net margin of 10.77%. W. R. Berkley's return on equity of 20.83% beat Travelers Companies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W. R. Berkley	12.88%	20.83%	4.27%
Travelers Companies	10.77%	19.06%	3.83%

Which has more risk & volatility, WRB or TRV?

W. R. Berkley has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Travelers Companies has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in WRB or TRV?

Travelers Companies received 253 more outperform votes than W. R. Berkley when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 52.75% of users gave Travelers Companies an outperform vote while only 50.44% of users gave W. R. Berkley an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
W. R. Berkley	Outperform Votes 341 50.44%	Underperform Votes 335 49.56%
Travelers Companies	Outperform Votes 594 52.75%	Underperform Votes 532 47.25%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in WRB or TRV?

68.8% of W. R. Berkley shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.4% of Travelers Companies shares are held by institutional investors. 23.3% of W. R. Berkley shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Travelers Companies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, WRB or TRV?

Travelers Companies has higher revenue and earnings than W. R. Berkley. Travelers Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W. R. Berkley, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
W. R. Berkley	$13.95B	2.00	$1.76B	$4.31	17.05
Travelers Companies	$47.01B	1.32	$5.00B	$18.37	14.90

Does the media refer more to WRB or TRV?

In the previous week, Travelers Companies had 11 more articles in the media than W. R. Berkley. MarketBeat recorded 43 mentions for Travelers Companies and 32 mentions for W. R. Berkley. W. R. Berkley's average media sentiment score of 1.26 beat Travelers Companies' score of 1.16 indicating that W. R. Berkley is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
W. R. Berkley	20 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Travelers Companies	28 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is WRB or TRV a better dividend stock?

W. R. Berkley pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Travelers Companies pays an annual dividend of $4.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. W. R. Berkley pays out 7.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Travelers Companies pays out 24.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. W. R. Berkley has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years and Travelers Companies has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years.

Summary

Travelers Companies beats W. R. Berkley on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.