AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Short Interest Up 9.9% in November

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the October 31st total of 1,010,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 515,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXIS Capital

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 3.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,075,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $287,909,000 after purchasing an additional 152,914 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 9.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,583,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $182,538,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 7.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,675,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $134,110,000 after purchasing an additional 112,536 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 24.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,625,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $129,371,000 after purchasing an additional 318,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 12.5% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,417,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,144,000 after purchasing an additional 157,110 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $81.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.14.

AXIS Capital Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AXS traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.16. The stock had a trading volume of 194,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 569,322. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.01. The firm has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.94. AXIS Capital has a fifty-two week low of $53.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.16. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital will post 10.83 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.41%.

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.