AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

AXS has been the topic of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet raised shares of AXIS Capital from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, November 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of AXIS Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.50.

AXIS Capital Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of AXIS Capital stock opened at $52.86 on Thursday. AXIS Capital has a 52-week low of $48.32 and a 52-week high of $63.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.71. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.81.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.25. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXIS Capital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 447.2% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN purchased a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 97.5% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.89% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Company Profile

(Get Rating)

AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. engages in the provision of various insurance, and reinsurance products and services. It operates through the Insurance and Reinsurance segments. The Insurance segment offers property, marine, terrorism, aviation, political risk, professional lines, liability, and accident, and health insurance products.