Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) Stock Gets Price Target Increase from Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies raised Arch Capital Group’s price target from $102 to $106 while maintaining a “Hold” rating, implying about 0.34% downside from the reported share price.
• Arch Capital’s shares rose 2.3% to $106.36, near their 52-week high, after the insurer reported quarterly earnings of $2.67 per share and revenue of $4.66 billion, both above analyst expectations.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans toward “Hold”: seven analysts rate the stock Buy, eight Hold, and one Sell, with a consensus target price of $109.94.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $102.00 to $106.00 in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage currently has a "hold" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price suggests a potential downside of 0.34% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Arch Capital Group from $99.00 to $95.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Atlantic Securities set a $126.00 price objective on Arch Capital Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Arch Capital Group from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Arch Capital Group from $122.50 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on Arch Capital Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.94.

Arch Capital Group Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of ACGL stock traded up $2.42 on Thursday, hitting $106.36. The stock had a trading volume of 2,479,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,354,857. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Arch Capital Group has a one year low of $84.69 and a one year high of $107.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $97.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.70. The company has a market cap of $36.29 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.28.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The insurance provider reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.06 billion. Arch Capital Group had a net margin of 23.31% and a return on equity of 16.62%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Arch Capital Group will post 9.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arch Capital Group news, CFO Francois Morin sold 11,010 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.32, for a total value of $1,093,513.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 184,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,356,918.32. This trade represents a 5.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arch Capital Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Arch Capital Group during the second quarter worth about $368,808,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Arch Capital Group by 319.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,626,148 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $252,084,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000,162 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Arch Capital Group by 230.0% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,286,178 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $123,354,000 after acquiring an additional 896,480 shares during the last quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Arch Capital Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,089,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Arch Capital Group by 50.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,910,063 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $183,347,000 after acquiring an additional 641,462 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.07% of the company's stock.

About Arch Capital Group

Arch Capital Group Ltd. is a Bermuda-based insurance, reinsurance and mortgage insurance company whose shares trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol ACGL. The company was established in 1995 and has developed into a global provider of specialty risk-management products and services.

Through its insurance operations, Arch offers property, casualty, specialty, and accident and health coverage to businesses and other policyholders. Its reinsurance operations provide coverage and risk-transfer solutions to insurance companies across a range of property and casualty lines.

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