Zacks Research Downgrades James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) to Strong Sell

James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on JRVR. Citigroup lowered James River Group from a “hold” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of James River Group in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded James River Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of James River Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of James River Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, James River Group currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $7.00.

James River Group Stock Performance

James River Group stock opened at $4.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $191.90 million, a PE ratio of 12.21 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.22. James River Group has a fifty-two week low of $4.03 and a fifty-two week high of $7.20.

James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $151.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $155.07 million. James River Group had a return on equity of 10.79% and a net margin of 4.34%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that James River Group will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of James River Group by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 845,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,325,000 after purchasing an additional 73,231 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in James River Group by 5.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 145,201 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 7,231 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in James River Group by 45.5% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 448,860 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after purchasing an additional 140,400 shares during the last quarter. Canal Insurance CO purchased a new position in James River Group in the first quarter valued at about $189,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in James River Group in the first quarter worth about $253,000. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About James River Group

James River Group Holdings, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, underwrites property and casualty insurance products primarily in the program, wholesale broker and retail broker markets. The company focuses on specialty P&C lines, offering binding authority and delegated underwriting solutions for niche sectors including professional liability, environmental, real estate and other tailored commercial risks. Operating under the James River brand, it provides both admitted and non-admitted insurance across multiple states.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, James River Group has expanded through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions.