Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $95.62 and last traded at $94.81, with a volume of 97423 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $93.54.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on ACGL. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Arch Capital Group from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Arch Capital Group in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Arch Capital Group from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Arch Capital Group from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Arch Capital Group from $101.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Francois Morin sold 25,689 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $2,247,016.83. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 221,779 shares in the company, valued at $19,399,009.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Maamoun Rajeh sold 50,000 shares of Arch Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 owns 336,170 shares in the company, valued at $29,408,151.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Francois Morin sold 25,689 shares of Arch Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $2,247,016.83. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 221,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,399,009.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,689 shares of company stock worth $11,872,217 over the last three months. 4.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arch Capital Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ACGL. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Arch Capital Group by 2.1% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,802 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Arch Capital Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 90,592 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Arch Capital Group by 6.3% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,729 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,757,000 after purchasing an additional 5,607 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Arch Capital Group by 12.2% in the first quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 341,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,550,000 after purchasing an additional 37,180 shares during the period. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Arch Capital Group by 7.6% in the first quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,348 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,066,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.07% of the company’s stock.

Arch Capital Group Trading Up 2.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $35.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. Arch Capital Group had a net margin of 33.65% and a return on equity of 23.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Arch Capital Group Ltd. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

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.