W.R. Berkley Corporation’s (NYSE:WRB) third-quarter 2019 operating income of 85 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 26.5%. Also, the bottom line improved 6.3% year over year on higher, pre-tax underwriting profits and premiums written.
W.R. Berkley Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Behind the Headlines
W.R. Berkley’s net premiums written were $1.7 billion, up 7.7% year over year. Higher premiums written at both the Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segments contributed to this upside.
Operating revenues came in at $96 billion, up 1.4% year over year, mainly owing to higher net premiums earned, partly offset by decline in investment income. Revenues beat the consensus estimate by 5.8%.
Investment income decreased 13.1% year over year to $161.7 million due to average performance of investment fund compared to strong returns in the year-ago quarter.
Total expenses increased nearly 2% to $1.8 billion, primarily on higher losses and loss expenses, costs from non-insurance businesses plus other operating costs and expenses.
Catastrophe loss totaled $31.5 million in the quarter, reflecting decrease of 19.3% year over year. Consolidated combined ratio (a measure of underwriting profitability) was 93.6%, reflecting 230 basis points (bps) improvement year over year.
Segment Details
Net premiums written at the Insurance segment grew 5.1% year over year to $1.5 billion in the quarter, driven by higher premiums at commercial automobile, professional liability, other liability and short-tail lines. Combined ratio improved 260 bps to 93%.
Net premiums written in the Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segment increased 30.7% year over year to $220.7 million on higher casualty reinsurance, monoline excess and property reinsurance premium. Combined ratio remained unchanged year over year at 98.3%.
Financial Update
W.R. Berkley exited the third quarter with total assets worth $26.2 billion, up 5.3% from year-end 2018.
Book value per share improved 10.9% from 2018 end to $32.97 as of Sep 30, 2019.
Cash flow from operations totaled $392.4 million for the quarter, up 75.8% year over year.
The company’s return on equity expanded 20 bps to 12.2%.
Zacks Rank
W.R. Berkley currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Other Insurance Releases
Of the insurance industry players that have reported third-quarter results so far, The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) , MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE:MTG) and RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings.
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MGIC Investment Corporation (MTG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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W.R. Berkley Corporation (WRB): Free Stock Analysis Report
The Progressive Corporation (PGR): Free Stock Analysis Report
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