AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.20.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AXIS Capital in a research report on Friday, September 8th. They set a “sell” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on AXIS Capital in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Bank of America raised AXIS Capital from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $57.09 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $54.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.84. 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 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.46. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 6.85%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AXIS Capital will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.50, for a total transaction of $333,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,758,905. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXIS Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in AXIS Capital by 50.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 125,923 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,614,000 after buying an additional 42,496 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in AXIS Capital by 6.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 275,103 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,635,000 after buying an additional 16,513 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in AXIS Capital by 447.2% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC acquired a new position in AXIS Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $366,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new position in AXIS Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.61% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Company Profile

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 classes covering offshore energy, cargo, liability, kidnap and ransom, fine art, specie, and hull war; and terrorism, aviation, credit and political risk, and liability insurance products.