AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) Sets New 1-Year High at $75.00

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $75.00 and last traded at $75.00, with a volume of 433 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $73.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AXS. UBS Group increased their price target on AXIS Capital from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AXIS Capital has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.83.

AXIS Capital Stock Down 0.1 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.90.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.11% and a net margin of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AXIS Capital news, Director W Marston Becker acquired 3,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.58 per share, for a total transaction of $201,404.50. Following the purchase, the director now 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 accessible through this link. In related news, Director W Marston Becker acquired 3,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.58 per share, with a total value of $201,404.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 21,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,452,842.18. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Stanley A. Galanski bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $71.43 per share, with a total value of $142,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 11,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $840,231.09. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 6,425 shares of company stock worth $444,351 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,707,110 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $482,113,000 after purchasing an additional 75,085 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,788,802 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $209,785,000 after acquiring an additional 27,750 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in AXIS Capital by 30.7% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,321,271 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $150,928,000 after acquiring an additional 545,546 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,246,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $81,034,000 after purchasing an additional 20,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in AXIS Capital by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,054,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,825,000 after purchasing an additional 64,438 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.