DOWLING & PARTN Raises Earnings Estimates for Axis Capital

Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) – Equities researchers at DOWLING & PARTN boosted their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Axis Capital in a research report issued on Wednesday, November 4th. DOWLING & PARTN analyst N. Iacoviello now expects that the insurance provider will post earnings of $12.45 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $12.30. The consensus estimate for Axis Capital’s current full-year earnings is $12.44 per share.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AXS. Capital One Financial set a $108.00 target price on Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Axis Capital from $131.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Axis Capital from $131.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Axis Capital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.00.

Axis Capital Price Performance

AXS opened at $107.87 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Axis Capital has a 1 year low of $93.02 and a 1 year high of $119.99. The firm has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.24, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.39.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 14.62%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.25 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axis Capital

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Axis Capital by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,682,238 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $373,412,000 after acquiring an additional 299,573 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,710,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $173,504,000 after purchasing an additional 21,001 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased 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 worth $108,700,000 after purchasing an additional 23,109 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Axis Capital by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 979,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $99,376,000 after purchasing an additional 234,353 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in 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 worth $47,556,000 after purchasing an additional 15,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axis Capital

In other Axis Capital news, Director Henry Smith sold 4,893 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.15, for a total value of $519,391.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,400,342.10. The trade was a 10.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Axis Capital’s payout ratio is currently 13.45%.

About Axis Capital

Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE: AXS) is a Bermuda-based specialty insurance and reinsurance company. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides coverage and risk-management solutions for businesses, institutions and other insurers facing complex or difficult-to-place risks.

AXIS offers a range of commercial property and casualty insurance products, including professional liability, cyber, marine, aviation, energy, environmental, political risk, credit and surety, and accident and health coverage.