Short Interest in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) Grows By 11.7%

Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,020,000 shares, a growth of 11.7% from the December 31st total of 5,390,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,960,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Arch Capital Group from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arch Capital Group from $114.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Arch Capital Group from $143.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Arch Capital Group from $110.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Arch Capital Group from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arch Capital Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Arch Capital Group by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 197,111 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,203,000 after buying an additional 6,663 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Arch Capital Group by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 111,229 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,444,000 after purchasing an additional 5,614 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arch Capital Group by 10.0% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 71,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,024,000 after purchasing an additional 6,521 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arch Capital Group by 26.6% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 25,465 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 5,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its position in shares of Arch Capital Group by 172.2% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 55,423 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,201,000 after buying an additional 35,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.07% of the company’s stock.

Arch Capital Group Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:ACGL opened at $93.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.25, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Arch Capital Group has a one year low of $80.97 and a one year high of $116.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.30.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.05. Arch Capital Group had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 33.86%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Arch Capital Group will post 8.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arch Capital Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $5.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th.

Arch Capital Group Company Profile

Arch Capital Group Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, reinsurance, and mortgage insurance products worldwide. The company's Insurance segment offers primary and excess casualty coverages; loss sensitive primary casualty insurance programs; directors' and officers' liability, errors and omissions liability, employment practices and fiduciary liability, crime, professional indemnity, and other financial related coverages; medical professional and general liability insurance coverages; and workers' compensation and umbrella liability, as well as commercial automobile and inland marine products.