Equities Analysts Set Expectations for W. R. Berkley Co.’s Q1 2026 Earnings (NYSE:WRB)

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research decreased their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of W. R. Berkley in a report released on Monday, April 15th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now expects that the insurance provider will earn $1.83 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.02. The consensus estimate for W. R. Berkley’s current full-year earnings is $5.98 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W. R. Berkley’s FY2026 earnings at $7.23 EPS.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE WRB opened at $80.71 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $84.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.61. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $55.50 and a one year high of $89.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 427.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,899,093 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $790,947,000 after purchasing an additional 8,831,553 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,331,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,620,232,000 after acquiring an additional 8,664,707 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 65.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,940,770 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $795,136,000 after acquiring an additional 4,732,333 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $213,635,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 119.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,377,556 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $224,911,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840,475 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About W. R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.