Cozad Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 66.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,690 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $1,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXS. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Axis Capital by 2.2% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 14.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 133,675 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,846,000 after purchasing an additional 4,303 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $31,513,000 after purchasing an additional 8,443 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $319,000. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

NYSE:AXS opened at $97.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.47. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $70.16 and a 1-year high of $107.19.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 14.54% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The business’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Axis Capital’s payout ratio is currently 17.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Axis Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.25.

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.