Short Interest in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Grows By 26.4%

Key Points

• Short interest in Axis Capital rose by 26.4% in March to 970,240 shares (about 1.3% of the stock) and the short-interest ratio is 2.0 days.
• Axis beat estimates with quarterly EPS of $3.25 and revenue of $1.73B (+17.8% y/y), and analysts hold a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average price target of $122.80.
• Institutional ownership is very high at 93.44%, with several large investors (including Allianz and Johnson Investment) recently increasing positions.

Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 970,240 shares, a growth of 26.4% from the March 15th total of 767,379 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 496,533 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company's shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Axis Capital

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Axis Capital by 0.5% in the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,222,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $117,157,000 after purchasing an additional 6,571 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Axis Capital by 63.2% in the third quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 352,050 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,726,000 after purchasing an additional 136,313 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Axis Capital by 30.3% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 970,411 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $92,965,000 after purchasing an additional 225,569 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Axis Capital in the third quarter valued at $1,118,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Axis Capital by 22.8% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 110,364 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $10,573,000 after purchasing an additional 20,484 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AXS. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Axis Capital from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Axis Capital from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.80.

Axis Capital Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of AXS stock traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $100.14. The company had a trading volume of 112,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,050. Axis Capital has a 12 month low of $88.07 and a 12 month high of $110.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.96. The company has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.63.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.28. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 15.37%.The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Axis Capital will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Axis Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.21%.

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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