AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.75.

A number of analysts recently commented on AXS shares. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $93.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AXIS Capital from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised AXIS Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,234,636 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,922.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,543,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $406,613,715. The trade was a 32.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXIS Capital

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,144,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $367,265,000 after buying an additional 17,764 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,444,128 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $305,219,000 after purchasing an additional 12,571 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,178,512 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $281,680,000 after buying an additional 53,514 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AXIS Capital by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $238,344,000 after purchasing an additional 134,157 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,042,925 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $181,045,000 after buying an additional 20,976 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AXIS Capital Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of AXS stock traded down $0.35 on Wednesday, reaching $94.60. 265,048 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 604,181. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. AXIS Capital has a twelve month low of $60.64 and a twelve month high of $101.42. The company has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.66, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.67. The business's 50 day moving average price is $94.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.67.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.29. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AXIS Capital will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital's payout ratio is currently 14.25%.

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.