CenterBook Partners LP Purchases New Shares in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 12,044 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,135,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Axis Capital by 8.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,682,238 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $373,412,000 after acquiring an additional 299,573 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Axis Capital by 1.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,710,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $173,504,000 after purchasing an additional 21,001 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,071,887 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $108,700,000 after purchasing an additional 23,109 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 979,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $99,376,000 after purchasing an additional 234,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 468,946 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $47,556,000 after purchasing an additional 15,839 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AXS shares. Roth Capital set a $115.00 price target on Axis Capital in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $112.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Axis Capital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $131.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.00.

Insider Transactions at Axis Capital

In related news, Director Henry Smith sold 4,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.15, for a total transaction of $519,391.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,454 shares in the company, valued at $4,400,342.10. This trade represents a 10.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Axis Capital Stock Up 0.4%

Axis Capital stock opened at $106.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $93.02 and a fifty-two week high of $119.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $99.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.16.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.27. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 14.62%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.25 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 12.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.45%.

About Axis Capital

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited is a global specialty insurer and reinsurer headquartered in Bermuda. Founded in 2001, the company serves businesses and other clients through insurance and reinsurance operations.

Its insurance offerings include coverage for property and casualty risks, professional liability, cyber, marine, aviation, energy, and accident and health. Its reinsurance business provides protection to other insurers across property, casualty, and specialty lines.

AXIS operates in markets around the world, including North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.