Zacks Research Forecasts Stronger Earnings for W.R. Berkley

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) – Zacks Research increased their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for shares of W.R. Berkley in a report released on Tuesday, June 24th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now expects that the insurance provider will post earnings of $1.20 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.18. The consensus estimate for W.R. Berkley’s current full-year earnings is $4.33 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W.R. Berkley’s Q2 2026 earnings at $1.21 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.19 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $4.74 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.09 EPS.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion.

WRB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.42.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $72.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $72.65 and its 200-day moving average is $65.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. W.R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $51.41 and a 1-year high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,967 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $5,676,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $5,787,000. 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.