Brokerages Set AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Target Price at $99.25

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $99.25.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on AXIS Capital from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered AXIS Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price target on AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 93,078 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,249,000 after purchasing an additional 21,418 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 833 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 7,053.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 353,941 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,366,000 after acquiring an additional 348,993 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 80,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,138,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

NYSE:AXS opened at $90.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.95. AXIS Capital has a 52-week low of $55.56 and a 52-week high of $94.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $90.09 and a 200 day moving average of $82.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.29. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. On average, research analysts expect that AXIS Capital will post 11.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.25%.

AXIS Capital Company Profile

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.