Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Axos Financial was upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen, with other firms also raising their price targets and ratings for the stock.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $1.94, exceeding estimates, and showed significant revenue growth with a 10.5% increase year-over-year.
• Axos Financial's Board of Directors announced a $100 million stock buyback program, indicating the management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Axos Financial from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Axos Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Axos Financial from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Axos Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Axos Financial from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.86.

Axos Financial Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AX stock traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $85.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 82,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,885. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $78.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.40. Axos Financial has a 52 week low of $54.46 and a 52 week high of $88.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.32.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.12. Axos Financial had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 22.24%. The firm had revenue of $321.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.73 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Axos Financial will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axos Financial announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, May 12th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Axos Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Axos Financial by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 410,590 shares of the company's stock worth $28,680,000 after buying an additional 128,932 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Axos Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $223,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Axos Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 70,885 shares of the company's stock worth $4,951,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Axos Financial by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,488,259 shares of the company's stock worth $103,975,000 after buying an additional 43,503 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in shares of Axos Financial by 152.2% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 43,888 shares of the company's stock worth $3,066,000 after purchasing an additional 26,485 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Axos Financial Company Profile

Axos Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides consumer and business banking products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking Business and Securities Business. The company offers deposits products, including consumer and business checking, demand, savings, time deposit, money market, zero balance, and insured cash sweep accounts.