W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.1 %

WRB traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $77.94. 514,037 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,249,337. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $84.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W. R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $55.50 and a 52 week high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.63.

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.