James River Group Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:JRVR) Short Interest Update

James River Group Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:JRVR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a growth of 20.7% from the December 15th 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. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Trading of James River Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in James River Group by 2,512.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,377,017 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $10,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324,309 shares in the last quarter. RBF Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of James River Group by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. RBF Capital LLC now owns 1,073,828 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,733,000 after buying an additional 42,946 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of James River Group by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 469,963 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,633,000 after buying an additional 132,300 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of James River Group by 7.9% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 275,519 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,130,000 after buying an additional 20,085 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of James River Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 195,791 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 3,433 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

James River Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of JRVR stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $4.79. 153,733 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 353,459. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. James River Group has a 12-month low of $4.35 and a 12-month high of $11.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.18 and a beta of 0.06. The company's 50-day moving average price is $4.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.22.

James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The insurance provider reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.89). James River Group had a negative net margin of 20.84% and a positive return on equity of 3.90%. The business had revenue of $191.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $137.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that James River Group will post -0.35 earnings per share for the current 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 given 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 0.84%. James River Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -0.99%.

About James River Group

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.