Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) Price Target to $125.00

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Axis Capital’s price target to $125 from $131 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, implying roughly 20% upside from the $104.09 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price of $120.50; other firms also recently adjusted targets while retaining favorable ratings.
• Axis Capital reported quarterly EPS of $2.84, missing the $3.25 consensus estimate, although revenue of $1.75 billion exceeded expectations and rose 7.4% year over year.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $131.00 to $125.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price points to a potential upside of 20.09% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on AXS. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Axis Capital from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Axis Capital from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Atlantic Securities set a $122.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $120.50.

Axis Capital Price Performance

Shares of AXS opened at $104.09 on Tuesday. Axis Capital has a 12 month low of $88.07 and a 12 month high of $119.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $106.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.25. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.41, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.49.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The insurance provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.25 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Axis Capital will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total value of $250,869.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 46,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,573,985.43. This represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Axis Capital by 11.3% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 26,700 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,869,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 1.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,710,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $173,504,000 after acquiring an additional 21,001 shares during the period. Bull Harbor Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the first quarter worth $910,000. Amundi increased its position in Axis Capital by 88.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 11,647 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 5,469 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Axis Capital by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,289 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

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.

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