Short Interest in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) Expands By 20.4%

Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,250,000 shares, a growth of 20.4% from the March 31st total of 3,530,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nicolas Papadopoulo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.52, for a total transaction of $5,251,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 651,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,057,001.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Nicolas Papadopoulo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.52, for a total transaction of $5,251,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 651,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,057,001.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Maamoun Rajeh sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.48, for a total transaction of $4,374,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 336,170 shares in the company, valued at $29,408,151.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,689 shares of company stock valued at $11,872,217 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arch Capital Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Arch Capital Group by 6.0% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 205,548 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,756,000 after purchasing an additional 11,594 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Arch Capital Group by 601.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 141,370 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,500,000 after purchasing an additional 121,206 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Arch Capital Group by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 209,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $16,672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504 shares during the period. Millington Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arch Capital Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,030,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of Arch Capital Group by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 205,698 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,277,000 after acquiring an additional 46,089 shares during the period. 89.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ACGL shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Arch Capital Group from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Arch Capital Group from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Arch Capital Group in a report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Arch Capital Group in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Arch Capital Group in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. Five 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.23.

Arch Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ACGL opened at $90.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Arch Capital Group has a 52 week low of $69.05 and a 52 week high of $95.01.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The insurance provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.55. Arch Capital Group had a net margin of 32.59% and a return on equity of 21.94%. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Arch Capital Group will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.