Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Acquires 1,027 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,933 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Intelligent Financial Strategies bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $65,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $57.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $41.37 and a 12-month high of $61.28. The company has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $56.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.09.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

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.