Analysts Set Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Price Target at $111.43

Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $117.1667.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AXS shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Axis Capital Price Performance

Axis Capital stock opened at $96.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Axis Capital has a 1 year low of $77.21 and a 1 year high of $107.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $96.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.97.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 18.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Axis Capital will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.92%.

Insider Activity at Axis Capital

In other news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total value of $420,038.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,587,366.33. This represents a 20.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $345,345.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,666,597.65. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,205 shares of company stock valued at $1,188,048 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 97,580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,348,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,661 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,033,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 41.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 22,747 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 6,635 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Axis Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $380,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 78,665 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,167,000 after acquiring an additional 7,154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Axis Capital Company Profile

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.