AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $94.00 to $96.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. AXIS Capital traded as high as $84.84 and last traded at $84.43, with a volume of 13821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.06.

AXS has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen started coverage on AXIS Capital in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $118.00 price target for the company. Roth Mkm upped their price target on AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $81.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.86.

Institutional Trading of AXIS Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,075,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $287,909,000 after purchasing an additional 152,914 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 9.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,583,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $182,538,000 after buying an additional 213,559 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 30.7% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,321,271 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $150,928,000 after buying an additional 545,546 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,417,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,144,000 after acquiring an additional 157,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,394,491 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $111,015,000 after acquiring an additional 33,241 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Trading Up 4.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.63 and a 200-day moving average of $74.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.90.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 19.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.41%.

AXIS Capital Company Profile

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides various specialty insurance and reinsurance products in Bermuda, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Insurance segment offers professional insurance products that cover directors' and officers' liability, errors and omissions, employment practices, fiduciary, crime, professional indemnity, medical malpractice, and other financial insurance related coverages for commercial enterprises, financial institutions, not-for-profit organizations, and other professional service providers; and property insurance products for commercial buildings, residential premises, construction projects, property in transit, onshore renewable energy installations, and physical damage and business interruption following an act of terrorism.