Zacks Research Reduces Earnings Estimates for W.R. Berkley

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of W.R. Berkley in a report issued on Monday, February 16th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the insurance provider will post earnings of $1.15 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast 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 $1.09 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.13 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $4.56 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.16 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.22 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $1.09 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $4.78 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $4.85 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.9%

WRB opened at $71.04 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.18. W.R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $59.55 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.37.

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

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued 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 is Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.99 per share, with a total value of $1,439,800.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 56,576,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,072,953,177.48. The trade was a 0.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 7,750,064 shares of company stock worth $532,603,787. Corporate insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,542,919,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at approximately $682,816,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $435,752,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 6,503.1% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,561,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $188,174,000 after acquiring an additional 2,601,230 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 35,572.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,219,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $155,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,213,679 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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.