AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Receives $98.71 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.71.

A number of research firms have recently commented on AXS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded AXIS Capital from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $81.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXIS Capital

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 8,717.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,361,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $96,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,811 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,459 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 26.6% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 45,550 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 9,581 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 11.5% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 693,060 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,965,000 after buying an additional 71,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its position in AXIS Capital by 2.5% during the second quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 269,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,013,000 after buying an additional 6,665 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

AXS stock opened at $87.81 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.95. AXIS Capital has a fifty-two week low of $53.88 and a fifty-two week high of $94.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.31.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.16. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 19.24%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital will post 10.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is currently 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.