WRB stock soars on the back of higher premiums, lower claims frequency in certain lines of business, effective capital deployment and sufficient liquidity.
Commercial insurer W. R. Berkley continues to enjoy a favorable operating environment, with underwriting profitability and investment income both still elevated. While the company has always reported solid underwriting results, the current backdrop is leading to cycle-high return on equity. Although earnings remain strong, the stock trades for over 2.7x book value. This valuation leaves little room for eventual earnings normalization.
W.R. Berkley shares have gained 27% over the past year but recently declined 7% after Q3 results; I maintain a "hold" rating due to valuation. Q3 results showed solid performance despite higher catastrophe losses, with net written premiums rising to $3.06 billion, driven by premium inflation. Elevated interest rates boosted net investment income by 19%, and WRB's conservative fixed income portfolio remains defensively positioned with an AA- average credit quality.
W. R. Berkley Corporation WRB reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter on Monday.
W.R. Berkley's Q3 earnings reflect continued strong underwriting and investment income.
W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB ) Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call October 21, 2024 5:00 PM ET Company Participants Rob Berkley - President & CEO Rich Baio - EVP & CFO Bill Berkley - Executive Chairman Conference Call Participants Elyse Greenspan - Wells Fargo Rob Cox - Goldman Sachs Andrew Kligerman - TD Cowen Mike Zaremski - BMO Capital Markets Mark Hughes - Truist Securities Josh Shanker - Bank of America David Motemaden - Evercore ISI Ryan Tunis - Autonomous Research Alex Scott - Barclays Brian Meredith - UBS Financial Operator Good day and welcome to W. R. Berkley Corporation's Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call.
The headline numbers for W.R. Berkley (WRB) give insight into how the company performed in the quarter ended September 2024, but it may be worthwhile to compare some of its key metrics to Wall Street estimates and the year-ago actuals.
W.R. Berkley (WRB) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.93 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.92 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.90 per share a year ago.
Get a deeper insight into the potential performance of W.R. Berkley (WRB) for the quarter ended September 2024 by going beyond Wall Street's top -and-bottom-line estimates and examining the estimates for some of its key metrics.
W.R. Berkley (WRB) doesn't possess the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
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