Be Sure To Check Out W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend

It looks like W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 3 days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. Accordingly, W. R. Berkley investors that purchase the stock on or after the 14th of September will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 29th of September.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.13 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.52 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, W. R. Berkley stock has a trailing yield of around 0.7% on the current share price of $73.05. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

See our latest analysis for W. R. Berkley

Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. W. R. Berkley has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 9.8% of its income after tax.

Companies that pay out less in dividends than they earn in profits generally have more sustainable dividends. The lower the payout ratio, the more wiggle room the business has before it could be forced to cut the dividend.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. For this reason, we're glad to see W. R. Berkley's earnings per share have risen 13% per annum over the last five years.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the last 10 years, W. R. Berkley has lifted its dividend by approximately 11% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.

The Bottom Line

Should investors buy W. R. Berkley for the upcoming dividend? When companies are growing rapidly and retaining a majority of the profits within the business, it's usually a sign that reinvesting earnings creates more value than paying dividends to shareholders. Perhaps even more importantly - this can sometimes signal management is focused on the long term future of the business. Overall, W. R. Berkley looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.

On that note, you'll want to research what risks W. R. Berkley is facing. To help with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign for W. R. Berkley that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.

We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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