Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 73,031 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 2,065.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,567 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,031 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $7,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 314,372 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,513,000 after purchasing an additional 8,443 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Axis Capital in the first quarter worth about $271,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 62.3% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 50,582 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,070,000 after acquiring an additional 19,424 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 7.9% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Axis Capital by 81.8% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 55,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,585,000 after purchasing an additional 25,063 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Axis Capital from $125.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Axis Capital in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.00.

Axis Capital Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Axis Capital stock opened at $101.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $95.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.99. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1 year low of $83.65 and a 1 year high of $107.19. 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 (NYSE:AXS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $184.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.55%.

Insider Activity at Axis Capital

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

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.