Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Receives $108.25 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $108.25.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th.

Axis Capital Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:AXS traded up $0.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $96.91. 415,425 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 676,233. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a PE ratio of 9.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $100.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.28. Axis Capital has a 12-month low of $70.16 and a 12-month high of $107.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Axis Capital will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Axis Capital's payout ratio is currently 17.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axis Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXS. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Axis Capital during the first quarter valued at $33,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Axis Capital by 1,542.9% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 575 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Axis Capital by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Axis Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Axis Capital by 34.0% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.