Ategrity Specialty (NYSE:ASIC) Stock Price Down 7.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Shares fell 7.2% midday after Wells Fargo cut its price target from $27 to $26 (while keeping an overweight rating); the stock traded as low as $19 and volume jumped about 90% to ~200,440 shares.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but overall positive — MarketBeat shows a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $26.50, amid Citigroup's downgrade and target increases from JPMorgan and Barclays.
• Ategrity reported an earnings beat (EPS $0.51 vs $0.40, revenue $128.96M) with healthy margins and ROE, and several institutional investors meaningfully increased their stakes, indicating ongoing institutional interest.

Shares of Ategrity Specialty (NYSE:ASIC - Get Free Report) fell 7.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $26.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Ategrity Specialty traded as low as $19.00 and last traded at $19.0350. 200,440 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 90% from the average session volume of 105,533 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.51.

ASIC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup cut Ategrity Specialty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Ategrity Specialty from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ategrity Specialty from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ategrity Specialty from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ategrity Specialty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Ategrity Specialty by 298.1% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 170,734 shares of the company's stock worth $3,587,000 after purchasing an additional 127,849 shares during the period. State of Wisconsin Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Ategrity Specialty by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 157,601 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,311,000 after buying an additional 32,601 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ategrity Specialty by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 153,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,221,000 after buying an additional 4,866 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ategrity Specialty by 290.0% in the fourth quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 94,214 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,979,000 after buying an additional 70,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in Ategrity Specialty by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 71,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 11,903 shares during the period.

Ategrity Specialty Price Performance

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $20.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $913.80 million and a P/E ratio of 13.72.

Ategrity Specialty (NYSE:ASIC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.11. Ategrity Specialty had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The company had revenue of $128.96 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that Ategrity Specialty will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Ategrity Specialty Company Profile

We are a profitable and growing specialty insurance company dedicated to providing excess and surplus (“E&S”) products to small to medium-sized businesses (“SMBs”) across the United States. We have built a proprietary underwriting platform that combines sophisticated data analytics with automated and streamlined processes to efficiently serve our clients and deliver long-term value to our stockholders. The SMB market is characterized by large volumes of small-sized policies, and we believe our competitive edge lies in our ability to offer consistent, high-speed, and low-touch interactions that our distribution partners value.

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