AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

AXS has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 10th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

AXIS Capital Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $54.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $54.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.64. AXIS Capital has a 52-week low of $48.32 and a 52-week high of $63.99. The company has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.83.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The insurance provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.44. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 4.87% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that AXIS Capital will post 7.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AXIS Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXS. Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 447.2% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 97.5% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. 92.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AXIS Capital Company Profile

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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.