Bank of America Cuts Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) Price Target to $106.00

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) had its price objective decreased by Bank of America from $115.00 to $106.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

AXS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 target price on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Axis Capital from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.80.

Axis Capital Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of AXS stock opened at $100.58 on Tuesday. Axis Capital has a 1 year low of $88.07 and a 1 year high of $110.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.28. Axis Capital had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.38 earnings per share. Axis Capital’s revenue was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Axis Capital will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Axis Capital’s payout ratio is currently 14.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axis Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,597 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 5,390 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 37,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,975,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 8,358 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

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.