AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Receives $80.50 Average Price Target from Analysts

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.86.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AXS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $118.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on AXIS Capital from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

AXIS Capital Stock Up 3.3 %

AXS stock opened at $82.16 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.89. AXIS Capital has a 52 week low of $52.90 and a 52 week high of $82.33.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 11.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AXIS Capital will post 10.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXIS Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 55.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in AXIS Capital by 80.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in AXIS Capital by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in AXIS Capital by 32.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in AXIS Capital by 61,675.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,471 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 2,467 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.