W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) is one of 311 public companies in the “Insurance” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare W.R. Berkley to similar companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings for W.R. Berkley and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| W.R. Berkley | 6 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1.83 |
| W.R. Berkley Competitors | 3336 | 15674 | 16522 | 741 | 2.40 |
W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus target price of $70.56, suggesting a potential downside of 6.20%. As a group, “Insurance” companies have a potential upside of 6.02%. Given W.R. Berkley’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe W.R. Berkley has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares W.R. Berkley and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Net Income | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| W.R. Berkley | $14.88 billion | $1.78 billion | 15.90 |
| W.R. Berkley Competitors | $15.40 billion | $1.70 billion | 34.38 |
W.R. Berkley’s peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than W.R. Berkley. W.R. Berkley is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.
Profitability
This table compares W.R. Berkley and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| W.R. Berkley | 12.53% | 19.70% | 4.27% |
| W.R. Berkley Competitors | 9.15% | -9.84% | 4.10% |
Risk and Volatility
W.R. Berkley has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.R. Berkley’s peers have a beta of -1.59, meaning that their average share price is 259% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
68.8% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.9% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by institutional investors. 25.1% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.6% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
W.R. Berkley pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley pays out 8.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Insurance” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 31.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. W.R. Berkley has raised its dividend for 23 consecutive years.
Summary
W.R. Berkley beats its peers on 8 of the 15 factors compared.
W.R. Berkley Company Profile
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. This segment also provides accident and health insurance and reinsurance products; insurance for commercial risks; casualty and specialty environmental products; specialized insurance coverages for fine arts and jewelry exposures; excess liability and inland marine coverage for small to medium-sized insureds; and commercial general liability, umbrella, professional liability, directors and officers, commercial property, and surety products, as well as products for technology, and life sciences and travel industries. In addition, this segment offers cyber risk solutions; crime and fidelity insurance products; medical professional coverages; workers' compensation insurance products; general insurance; personal lines insurance solutions, including home, condo/co-op, auto, and collectibles; automobile, law enforcement, public officials and educator's legal, and employment practices liability, as well as incidental medical and property and crime insurance products; at-risk and alternative risk insurance program management services; professional liability; energy and marine risks; and provides insurance products to the Lloyd's marketplace. The Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segment provides treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions; property and casualty reinsurance; facultative reinsurance products include automatic, semi-automatic and individual risk assumed reinsurance; and turnkey products such as cyber, employment practices liability insurance, liquor liability insurance and violent events. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.
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