W.R. Berkley Corporation (WRB) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.09 on March 4th

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) announced 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 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%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 23 consecutive years. W.R. Berkley has a dividend payout ratio of 7.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.08. 1,763,929 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,314,663. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley has a one year low of $60.20 and a one year high of $78.96. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.40 and its 200 day moving average is $72.16.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 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.