AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $92.86.

A number of brokerages have commented on AXS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

AXIS Capital Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of AXS stock opened at $81.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.71. AXIS Capital has a fifty-two week low of $52.90 and a fifty-two week high of $83.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.41. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 11.28%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. AXIS Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AXIS Capital will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXIS Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 32.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 55.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 3,523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,212 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.