Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $124.00.

AXS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho set a $141.00 price objective on Axis Capital in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $121.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Axis Capital by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,954,373 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $762,029,000 after buying an additional 43,901 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Axis Capital by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,592,270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $491,786,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,579 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Axis Capital by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,382,665 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $362,263,000 after acquiring an additional 63,751 shares during the period. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Axis Capital by 47.7% in the second quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,817,204 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $188,662,000 after acquiring an additional 586,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Axis Capital by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,631,198 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $170,069,000 after acquiring an additional 15,755 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Axis Capital Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE AXS opened at $101.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.61. Axis Capital has a 1-year low of $84.81 and a 1-year high of $110.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $102.73 and a 200-day moving average of $100.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 15.37%.Axis Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Axis Capital will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.21%.

About Axis Capital

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.