W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.10

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.10 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a 11.1% increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09.

W.R. Berkley has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.5%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 23 consecutive years. W.R. Berkley has a dividend payout ratio of 7.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect W.R. Berkley to earn $4.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 7.5%.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $65.38 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $66.30 and its 200-day moving average is $68.94. W.R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $62.87 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $24.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.30.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that W.R. Berkley will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

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.