AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Announces $0.44 Quarterly Dividend

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of 0.44 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, July 18th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th.

AXIS Capital has raised its dividend by an average of 2.2% per year over the last three years. AXIS Capital has a dividend payout ratio of 16.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect AXIS Capital to earn $11.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.0%.

AXIS Capital Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of AXS traded up $0.80 on Friday, hitting $71.45. 520,661 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 646,105. AXIS Capital has a one year low of $51.61 and a one year high of $71.69. The company has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.17. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.11% and a net margin of 10.34%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.33 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AXIS Capital will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director W Marston Becker acquired 3,025 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.58 per share, with a total value of $201,404.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,842.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXS shares. UBS Group raised their price target on AXIS Capital from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded AXIS Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AXIS Capital from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.33.

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.