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

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)’s stock is scheduled to split on Wednesday, July 10th. The 3-2 split was announced on Wednesday, June 12th. The newly minted shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, July 9th.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $79.02 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $79.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.83. The company has a market capitalization of $20.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.61. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $57.79 and a 1 year high of $89.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.51% and a net margin of 12.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 24th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. This is a positive change from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded 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 research note on Thursday, June 13th. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.44.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Glassman Wealth Services boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 123.1% during the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.