W. R. Berkley Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.11 (NYSE:WRB)

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 14th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 25th will be given a dividend of 0.11 per share by the insurance provider on Wednesday, October 4th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 22nd.

W. R. Berkley has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. W. R. Berkley has a dividend payout ratio of 7.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect W. R. Berkley to earn $5.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.0%.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 2.3 %

WRB stock opened at $64.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.68. W. R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $55.50 and a 52 week high of $76.99.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 17.65% and a net margin of 10.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.3% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,625,414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $96,810,000 after acquiring an additional 110,845 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 22.7% during the second quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 11,765 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 6.7% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 175,860 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,475,000 after purchasing an additional 10,971 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $743,000. 66.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.00.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

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.