Q1 2024 EPS Estimates for W. R. Berkley Co. Raised by Analyst (NYSE:WRB)

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for W. R. Berkley in a report issued on Monday, April 15th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now forecasts that the insurance provider will post earnings of $1.47 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.46. The consensus estimate for W. R. Berkley’s current full-year earnings is $5.98 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W. R. Berkley’s Q2 2024 earnings at $1.45 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $1.43 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.56 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $5.92 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.74 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.83 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.57 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.54 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $6.68 EPS.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.3 %

WRB stock opened at $80.98 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.64. The company has a market cap of $20.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.57. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $55.50 and a 12 month high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.70%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 427.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,899,093 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $790,947,000 after purchasing an additional 8,831,553 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,331,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,620,232,000 after purchasing an additional 8,664,707 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 65.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,940,770 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $795,136,000 after purchasing an additional 4,732,333 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $213,635,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 119.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,377,556 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $224,911,000 after buying an additional 1,840,475 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.