AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $68.33.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AXS. StockNews.com upgraded AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th.

Insider Activity at AXIS Capital

In related news, Director Michael Millegan purchased 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.49 per share, with a total value of $100,086.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,016 shares in the company, valued at $644,553.84. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other AXIS Capital news, Director W Marston Becker acquired 3,025 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.58 per share, with a total value of $201,404.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,821 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,842.18. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Millegan purchased 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $71.49 per share, for a total transaction of $100,086.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,553.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXIS Capital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,707,110 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $482,113,000 after purchasing an additional 75,085 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,788,802 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $209,785,000 after purchasing an additional 27,750 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 2.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,976,903 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $167,808,000 after purchasing an additional 72,913 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 30.7% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,321,271 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $150,928,000 after purchasing an additional 545,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.9% in the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,776,551 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,144,000 after acquiring an additional 16,031 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $72.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $65.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.21. The company has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.80. AXIS Capital has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $72.77.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.11% and a net margin of 10.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AXIS Capital will post 10.07 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 26.91%.

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.