Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $97.54 and last traded at $97.3930, with a volume of 27123 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ACGL. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 target price on Arch Capital Group and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Arch Capital Group from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.00 target price on shares of Arch Capital Group in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Arch Capital Group in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Arch Capital Group in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arch Capital Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.00.

Arch Capital Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $35.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The insurance provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $1.01. Arch Capital Group had a return on equity of 16.38% and a net margin of 20.96%.The company had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Arch Capital Group Ltd. will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Arch Capital Group

In other news, insider John M. Pasquesi sold 203,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.90, for a total transaction of $19,143,017.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 351,356 shares in the company, valued at $32,992,328.40. This represents a 36.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Francois Morin sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.62, for a total value of $756,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 266,681 shares in the company, valued at $25,233,356.22. This represents a 2.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 220,666 shares of company stock worth $20,728,673. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arch Capital Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ACGL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Arch Capital Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $441,551,000. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new position in Arch Capital Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,856,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Arch Capital Group by 409.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,835,648 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $257,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,279,147 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Arch Capital Group by 289.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,368,648 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $124,615,000 after buying an additional 1,016,919 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Arch Capital Group by 112.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,895,222 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $171,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,004 shares in the last quarter. 89.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arch Capital Group Company Profile

Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACGL) is a Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance holding company that underwrites a broad range of property and casualty, mortgage, and specialty risk products. The company operates through a group of underwriting subsidiaries and platforms to provide insurance, reinsurance and related risk solutions tailored to commercial, institutional and individual clients.

Arch’s product mix includes treaty and facultative reinsurance, primary casualty and property insurance, mortgage insurance and other specialty lines.