W.R. Berkley Corporation Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.09 (NYSE:WRB)

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.09 per share by the insurance provider on Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd.

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 every year for the last 23 years. W.R. Berkley has a payout ratio of 7.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect W.R. Berkley to earn $4.71 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 7.6%.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 1.1%

WRB stock traded up $0.74 on Friday, reaching $71.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,763,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,314,663. The firm has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.16. W.R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $60.20 and a 12-month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. W.R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS 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.