Poinciana Advisors Group LLC Grows Position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Poinciana Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,877 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Axis Capital by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Axis Capital by 68.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 370,054 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,094,000 after buying an additional 150,652 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Axis Capital by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Axis Capital in the second quarter valued at about $321,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the first quarter worth about $620,000. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Axis Capital

In related news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $420,038.85. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,269 shares in the company, valued at $1,587,366.33. This trade represents a 20.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of Axis Capital 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 47,295 shares in the company, 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 12,205 shares of company stock worth $1,188,048 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Axis Capital Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of AXS opened at $94.90 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.05. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $77.21 and a twelve month high of $107.19.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.77% and a net margin of 14.30%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $119.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.43.

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.