StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Arch Capital Group from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Arch Capital Group from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Arch Capital Group from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Arch Capital Group from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a buy rating on shares of Arch Capital Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $70.56.

Arch Capital Group Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ACGL opened at $63.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Arch Capital Group has a 1 year low of $41.05 and a 1 year high of $72.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $65.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.96.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The insurance provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.80. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.68 billion. Arch Capital Group had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 15.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Arch Capital Group will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Francois Morin sold 15,814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.61, for a total value of $1,069,184.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 185,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,566,603.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Francois Morin sold 15,814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.61, for a total value of $1,069,184.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 185,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,566,603.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicolas Papadopoulo sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.16, for a total value of $2,104,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 759,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,319,495.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,143 shares of company stock worth $4,938,291 over the last quarter. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arch Capital Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACGL. Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Arch Capital Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. James Investment Research Inc. bought a new position in Arch Capital Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in Arch Capital Group by 57.3% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 692 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Arch Capital Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in Arch Capital Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 88.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arch Capital Group Company Profile

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Arch Capital Group Ltd. engages in the provision of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance lines. It operates through the following segments: Insurance, Reinsurance, Mortgage, Corporate, and Other. The Insurance segment consists of insurance underwriting units which offer specialty product lines like construction and national accounts, excess and surplus casualty, lenders products, professional lines, and programs.