Zacks Research Predicts Stronger Earnings for W. R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) – Research analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for W. R. Berkley in a research note issued to investors on Monday, December 30th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now forecasts that the insurance provider will earn $1.27 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.23. The consensus estimate for W. R. Berkley’s current full-year earnings is $3.96 per share.

WRB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.28.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $58.52 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.10. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $47.18 and a 52-week high of $65.49. The company has a market capitalization of $22.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $857,814,000 after acquiring an additional 4,947,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $642,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825,238 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $429,266,000 after buying an additional 2,459,073 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.