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

Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,960,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ACGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Arch Capital Group from $118.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Arch Capital Group from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com lowered Arch Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Arch Capital Group from $114.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Arch Capital Group from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.38.

Arch Capital Group Trading Up 0.5 %

ACGL stock opened at $92.35 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $97.31 and a 200-day moving average of $102.27. The company has a market cap of $34.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.20, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.62. Arch Capital Group has a twelve month low of $74.28 and a twelve month high of $116.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.05. Arch Capital Group had a net margin of 33.86% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Arch Capital Group will post 8.99 EPS for the current 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 paid a $5.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 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 buying an additional 5,614 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 6,521 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 35,060 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in Arch Capital Group by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 25,465 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 5,345 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. 89.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Arch Capital Group

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.