W.R. Berkley (WRB) will pay another special dividend in 2021. Following a $0.50 per share special dividend in June, the insurer will now pay a $1.00 per share special dividend in December. Earlier this year WRB also raised its quarterly dividend by 8.3 percent to $0.13 per share, marking the 20th consecutive year of dividend increases. 

The $1.00 per share WRB special dividend will be paid on December 22, 2021 to stockholders of record at the close of business on December 7, 2021. The ex-dividend date for the $1.00 per share special dividend by W.R. Berkley is December 6, 2021. A regular annual dividend rate of 52 cents per share yields 0.7% at a stock price of $80.58.

In addition, the Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of 13 cents per share to be paid on December 22, 2021 to stockholders of record at the close of business on December 7, 2021.

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Including all special and ordinary dividends declared to date in 2021 and all shares repurchased through September, 30, 2021, total capital returned to shareholders during 2021 is approximately $478 million.

Further, the Board of Directors has increased the company’s share repurchase authorization back to its previous level of 10 million shares of common stock. The 10 million share repurchase authorization represents approximately 6 percent of the company’s shares outstanding at September 30, 2021. Repurchases may be made from time to time at prevailing prices in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, subject to market conditions and other factors.

W. R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company. The company operates worldwide in two segments of the property casualty insurance business: Insurance and Reinsurance. The insurance business consists of predominantly commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines and specialty personal lines throughout the United States, as well as insurance business in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, South America, Canada, Mexico, Scandinavia, Asia and Australia. The reinsurance business operates as reinsurance business on a facultative and treaty basis, primarily in the United States, United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and South Africa. Founded in 1967, W. R. Berkley Corporation has grown from a small investment management firm into one of the largest commercial lines property and casualty insurers in the United States. The company has paid cash dividends each year since 1978.