James River Group Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:JRVR) Short Interest Up 20.7% in January

James River Group Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:JRVR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a growth of 20.7% from the December 31st total of 894,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 374,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 3.6% of the company's shares are sold short.

James River Group Stock Up 2.2 %

JRVR traded up $0.11 on Wednesday, hitting $4.86. The company had a trading volume of 136,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 228,469. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. James River Group has a 52-week low of $4.35 and a 52-week high of $11.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.66 million, a P/E ratio of -1.20 and a beta of 0.07.

James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The insurance provider reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.89). James River Group had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 20.84%. The company had revenue of $191.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $137.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that James River Group will post -0.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

James River Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. James River Group's payout ratio is -0.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JMP Securities cut their target price on James River Group from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On James River Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of James River Group during the 4th quarter valued at $197,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of James River Group by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 55,967 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 2,179 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of James River Group by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 118,194 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 5,553 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of James River Group by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 4,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of James River Group by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 150,135 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company's stock.

James River Group Company Profile

James River Group Holdings, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides specialty insurance services. It operates through Excess and Surplus Lines, and Specialty Admitted Insurance segments. The Excess and Surplus Lines segment underwrites liability and property insurance in the United States Puerto Rice, and the United States Virgin Islands.