Brokerages Anticipate AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) to Post $1.52 EPS

Equities analysts expect AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS – Get Rating) to post earnings of $1.52 per share for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Two analysts have made estimates for AXIS Capital’s earnings, with estimates ranging from $1.09 to $2.01. AXIS Capital posted earnings of $2.00 per share in the same quarter last year, which indicates a negative year-over-year growth rate of 24%. The firm is scheduled to announce its next earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that AXIS Capital will report full-year earnings of $6.18 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $5.75 to $6.45. For the next year, analysts anticipate that the business will report earnings of $6.61 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $5.60 to $7.60. Zacks’ EPS calculations are a mean average based on a survey of research firms that that provide coverage for AXIS Capital.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 27th. The insurance provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 12.09%. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut AXIS Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Zacks Investment Research raised AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AXIS Capital from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AXIS Capital presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $62.00.

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 1,488.4% during the first quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,145 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 17.7% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 5.1% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 86,870 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,999,000 after acquiring an additional 4,183 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 56.2% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 20,290 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $934,000 after acquiring an additional 7,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 3.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 27,892 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,284,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.67% of the company’s stock.

Shares of AXS traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $59.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 536,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,860. AXIS Capital has a one year low of $44.49 and a one year high of $61.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.88.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 30th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.92%.

AXIS Capital Company Profile (Get Rating)

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides various specialty insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. It operates through two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Insurance segment offers property insurance products for commercial buildings, residential premises, construction projects, and onshore energy installations; marine insurance products covering offshore energy, cargo, liability, recreational marine, fine art, specie, and hull war; and terrorism, aviation, credit and political risk, and liability insurance products.

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