Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Axis Capital (NYSE: AXS) from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, while other brokerages have maintained positive ratings with higher price targets.
• Axis Capital recently reported earnings per share of $3.29, exceeding analysts' expectations, although its revenue for the quarter was lower than projected.
• The company's stock has shown volatility, with a 12-month low of $70.16 and a high of $107.19, currently trading at around $93.20.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on AXS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.43.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Shares of AXS stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $94.50. 200,543 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 711,928. Axis Capital has a 12 month low of $71.64 and a 12 month high of $107.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $100.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.83.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 18.77%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Axis Capital will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Axis Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.92%.

Institutional Trading of Axis Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Axis Capital by 2.2% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Axis Capital by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Axis Capital by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 133,675 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $11,846,000 after purchasing an additional 4,303 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 314,372 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,513,000 after acquiring an additional 8,443 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company's stock.

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.