AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $107.75.

AXS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on AXIS Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 2.2% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.6% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 25,065 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,513,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AXIS Capital Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AXIS Capital stock opened at $104.35 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $97.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.45, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82. AXIS Capital has a 1-year low of $68.02 and a 1-year high of $105.77.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AXIS Capital will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.46%.

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.