Short Interest in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) Increases By 6.9%

Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,390,000 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the November 30th total of 5,040,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,960,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arch Capital Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACGL. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Arch Capital Group by 5.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 111,229 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,444,000 after acquiring an additional 5,614 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arch Capital Group by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 71,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,024,000 after purchasing an additional 6,521 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in Arch Capital Group by 172.2% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 55,423 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,201,000 after purchasing an additional 35,060 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 5,345 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Arch Capital Group by 6.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. 89.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arch Capital Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Arch Capital Group stock opened at $92.35 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $34.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $97.31 and a 200-day moving average of $102.27. 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 $74.28 and a one year high of $116.47.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. Arch Capital Group had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 33.86%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Arch Capital Group will post 8.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arch Capital Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $5.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ACGL shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Arch Capital Group from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Arch Capital Group from $105.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Arch Capital Group from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Arch Capital Group from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Arch Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.38.

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.