Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Buys 17,805 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 21.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,373 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,805 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Axis Capital worth $10,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,954,373 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $762,029,000 after acquiring an additional 43,901 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 2.3% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,318,914 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $317,945,000 after acquiring an additional 74,567 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 1.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,631,198 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $170,069,000 after acquiring an additional 15,755 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,387,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $148,565,000 after acquiring an additional 10,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 0.5% during the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,222,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $117,157,000 after acquiring an additional 6,571 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Axis Capital Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Axis Capital stock opened at $97.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a PE ratio of 7.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.51. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $88.07 and a 52-week high of $110.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.79.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Axis Capital’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axis Capital

In other news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total transaction of $250,869.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 46,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,573,985.43. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXS has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Axis Capital from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Mizuho set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.10.

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.