AXIS Capital Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

On Wednesday, shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) reached a new 52-week high after an upgrade from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. The analysts increased their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $96.00, maintaining an outperform rating. During trading, AXIS Capital peaked at $84.84 before settling at $84.43, with a trading volume of 13,821 shares. Previously, the stock had closed at $80.06.

Other analysts have also commented positively on AXIS Capital. TD Cowen began their coverage on October 4th, giving the stock a “buy” rating and a price target of $118.00. On July 31st, Roth MKM raised their target price from $75.00 to $90.00, maintaining a “buy” rating. Wells Fargo increased their price objective from $74.00 to $78.00, giving it an “underweight” rating. Meanwhile, Bank of America adjusted their price target for AXIS Capital from $81.00 to $96.00, stating a “buy” rating. Lastly, UBS Group revised their target price higher from $92.00 to $98.00, sustaining a “buy” rating. Overall, one analyst rated the stock as a sell, while seven others have issued buy ratings. MarketBeat's data indicates a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.86.

Recent Institutional Trading Activity

Institutional investors have been active in buying and selling AXIS Capital shares. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake by 3.9% during the second quarter, owning 4,075,087 shares valued at approximately $287.9 million after acquiring an additional 152,914 shares. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake by 9.0% in the same quarter, holding 2,583,700 shares worth $182.5 million following a purchase of 213,559 shares. Janus Henderson Group PLC also boosted its holdings by 30.7% in the first quarter, owning 2,321,271 shares valued at $150.9 million after buying 545,546 shares. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake by 12.5%, now holding 1,417,464 shares valued at $100.1 million after acquiring an additional 157,110 shares. Furthermore, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised their holdings in AXIS Capital by 2.4% during the third quarter, owning 1,394,491 shares worth $111.0 million. Overall, institutional investors own approximately 93.44% of AXIS Capital's stock.

Stock Performance

AXIS Capital has experienced a notable uptick in its stock pricing, increasing by 4.3% recently. The company maintains a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, with both quick and current ratios at 0.60. Its 50-day moving average stands at $79.63, with a 200-day moving average of $74.01. The company's market capitalization is reported at $6.99 billion, along with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 11.59 and a price-to-earnings-growth (PEG) ratio of 0.26, exhibiting a beta of 0.90.

AXIS Capital released its latest earnings report on October 30th, where it reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.71 for the quarter, exceeding the expected consensus of $2.55 by $0.16. The revenue for the quarter was $1.61 billion, slightly above the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. The company's net margin stood at 10.82%, with a return on equity of 19.24%. Comparatively, the firm recorded $2.34 EPS during the same period last year. Analysts currently forecast AXIS Capital will achieve an EPS of 10.98 for this fiscal year.

Dividend Declaration

AXIS Capital also announced a quarterly dividend, which was distributed on October 18th. Shareholders of record as of September 30th received a dividend of $0.44 per share. Following this, the dividend represented an annualized rate of $1.76, equating to a yield of 2.11%. The current dividend payout ratio stands at 24.41%.

About AXIS Capital

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, is involved in providing various specialty insurance and reinsurance products both in Bermuda and internationally. The company operates under two main segments: Insurance and Reinsurance. The Insurance segment specializes in professional insurance products, such as directors' and officers' liability, errors and omissions, as well as property insurance products covering commercial and residential spaces, among others.

AXS, Stocks, Earnings