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

Key Points

• Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from nine analysts, with six analysts issuing buy ratings and three holding ratings.
• Recent price targets by various analysts include a $119.00 target from UBS Group, and an increase to $121.00 from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
• Insider sales include a significant transaction by Daniel J. Draper, who sold 4,305 shares at an average price of $97.57, representing a 20.92% decrease in his position.

Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $111.4286.

AXS has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $119.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Axis Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Axis Capital news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of Axis Capital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total value of $420,038.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,587,366.33. This trade represents a 20.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of Axis Capital stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $345,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 47,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,666,597.65. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,205 shares of company stock valued at $1,188,048 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axis Capital

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Axis Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $100,683,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 95.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,852,398 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $185,685,000 after purchasing an additional 903,107 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,290,411 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $328,580,000 after purchasing an additional 600,901 shares in the last quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 47.7% in the 2nd quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,817,204 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $188,662,000 after purchasing an additional 586,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,025,000. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $99.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's fifty day moving average is $97.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.87. Axis Capital has a 52-week low of $76.46 and a 52-week high of $107.19.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 18.77%. Axis Capital's revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Axis Capital will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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