W. R. Berkley Stock Set to Split on Wednesday, July 10th (NYSE:WRB)

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) shares are scheduled to split on Wednesday, July 10th. The 3-2 split was announced on Wednesday, June 12th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, July 9th.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.7 %

WRB stock opened at $80.49 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.36 and a 200-day moving average of $79.51. W. R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $57.42 and a fifty-two week high of $89.18. The company has a market capitalization of $20.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 20.51%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 5.82 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is a boost from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 24th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.88.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Glassman Wealth Services boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 123.1% in the fourth quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 106.1% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 132.6% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by 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.