AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) Price Target Increased to $96.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $81.00 to $96.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on AXS. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a buy rating and a $118.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $92.86.

AXIS Capital Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of AXS opened at $80.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.89. AXIS Capital has a 52 week low of $52.90 and a 52 week high of $82.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.88.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 19.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AXIS Capital will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 26.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXIS Capital

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 increased its position in AXIS Capital by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,075,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $287,909,000 after purchasing an additional 152,914 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in AXIS Capital by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,583,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $182,538,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 545,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in AXIS Capital by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,417,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,144,000 after purchasing an additional 157,110 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.