Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,222,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 783,506 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Arch Capital Group were worth $759,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ACGL. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Arch Capital Group by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,363 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in Arch Capital Group by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 29,767 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in Arch Capital Group by 736.4% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 766,365 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $70,774,000 after purchasing an additional 674,739 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Arch Capital Group by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 8,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Arcus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Arch Capital Group during the 4th quarter valued at $305,000. 89.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arch Capital Group Price Performance

ACGL opened at $88.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.98. Arch Capital Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $83.97 and a 52-week high of $116.47.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The insurance provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.36. Arch Capital Group had a net margin of 33.86% and a return on equity of 18.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Arch Capital Group Ltd. will post 8.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Arch Capital Group from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Arch Capital Group from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Arch Capital Group from $143.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Arch Capital Group from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Arch Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.53.

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.