Croban Takes $1.04 Million Position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Croban bought a new position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,333 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,036,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Axis Capital by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,144,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $367,265,000 after purchasing an additional 17,764 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Axis Capital by 0.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Axis Capital by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,178,512 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $281,680,000 after purchasing an additional 53,514 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Axis Capital by 5.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Axis Capital by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,042,925 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $181,045,000 after buying an additional 20,976 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axis Capital Price Performance

AXS stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $96.26. 347,231 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 626,167. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.81. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $70.16 and a 52 week 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $101.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.73.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 14.54%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.07 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Axis Capital's dividend payout ratio is 17.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Axis Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Axis Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $108.25.

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.