W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Expected to Earn Q1 2024 Earnings of $1.47 Per Share

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of W. R. Berkley in a note issued to investors on Monday, April 15th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now forecasts that the insurance provider will post earnings per share of $1.47 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.22.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $80.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.64. W. R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $55.50 and a fifty-two week high of $89.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Applied Capital LLC FL lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 19,497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 18.4% in the first quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 62,874 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,265,000 after acquiring an additional 9,762 shares during the last quarter. Vicus Capital purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at about $246,000. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth about $242,000. Finally, Thrive Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

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.