Wall Street brokerages forecast that W. R. Berkley Corp (NYSE:WRB) will report sales of $1.76 billion for the current quarter, according to Zacks. Two analysts have provided estimates for W. R. Berkley’s earnings, with the highest sales estimate coming in at $1.77 billion and the lowest estimate coming in at $1.75 billion. W. R. Berkley posted sales of $1.70 billion in the same quarter last year, which suggests a positive year-over-year growth rate of 3.5%. The company is expected to issue its next earnings results after the market closes on Tuesday, July 24th.
According to Zacks, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will report full-year sales of $7.13 billion for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $7.09 billion to $7.21 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the company will report sales of $7.32 billion per share, with estimates ranging from $7.26 billion to $7.36 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research firms that that provide coverage for W. R. Berkley.
Get W. R. Berkley alerts:W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.11. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 6.53% and a net margin of 7.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis.
Several research firms recently issued reports on WRB. Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, June 18th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Zacks Investment Research raised W. R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 27th. ValuEngine downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 18th. Boenning Scattergood reissued a “hold” rating on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, June 14th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.78.
In other W. R. Berkley news, EVP James G. Shiel sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.04, for a total transaction of $1,694,880.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 22.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Optimum Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth about $127,000. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. Vident Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, Natixis purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth about $205,000. 71.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Shares of NYSE WRB traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.73. The stock had a trading volume of 633,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,353. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $62.00 and a twelve month high of $79.74. The company has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.81.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 14th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.39%.
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 through two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including premises operations, commercial automobile, property, products liability, and professional liability lines.
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