Q2 EPS Estimates for W.R. Berkley Cut by Zacks Research

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research reduced their Q2 2026 earnings estimates for shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report issued on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the insurance provider will post earnings per share of $1.08 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.09. 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 Q4 2026 earnings at $1.20 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.14 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $1.32 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $4.92 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, March 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.19.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:WRB opened at $66.10 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.38. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $62.63 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 104.1% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,735,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $121,934,000 after purchasing an additional 885,417 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 282,266 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,793,000 after purchasing an additional 37,999 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,730 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 35,525 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,491,000 after purchasing an additional 11,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dean Capital Management increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 33,170 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 112,176 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the purchase, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares in the company, valued at $4,243,948,490. This trade represents a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have bought 7,559,987 shares of company stock worth $521,633,836. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.09%.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.