Wall Street Zen Downgrades Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) to Sell

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

AX has been the topic of a number of other reports. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Axos Financial from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Axos Financial in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Axos Financial in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Axos Financial in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Axos Financial from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.71.

Axos Financial Trading Down 3.7%

NYSE:AX opened at $69.92 on Friday. Axos Financial has a 12 month low of $51.39 and a 12 month high of $88.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.07. Axos Financial had a net margin of 22.10% and a return on equity of 18.67%. The firm had revenue of $432.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Axos Financial will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axos Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, May 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Axos Financial news, Director Paul Grinberg sold 30,000 shares of Axos Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $2,042,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 113,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,714,256.55. The trade was a 20.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Axos Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Axos Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Axos Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Axos Financial by 1,700.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Axos Financial by 238.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Axos Financial by 206.1% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

About Axos Financial

Axos Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides consumer and business banking products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking Business and Securities Business. The company offers deposits products, including consumer and business checking, demand, savings, time deposit, money market, zero balance, and insured cash sweep accounts.