W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Posts Earnings Results

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18, Zacks reports. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock traded up $1.82 during trading on Monday, reaching $59.34. The stock had a trading volume of 2,615,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,237,703. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $22.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $65.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.39.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.74.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

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.