Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stock Position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 439,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,333 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $23,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 900,334 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $49,086,000 after buying an additional 9,032 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 34,018 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 34.4% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,662,000 after purchasing an additional 12,484 shares during the period. Ziegler Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 57.6% during the 1st quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 18,861 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 6,893 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 66,015 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,554,000 after purchasing an additional 8,788 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AXIS Capital in a report on Friday, September 8th. They set a “sell” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised AXIS Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, November 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on AXIS Capital in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on AXIS Capital from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised AXIS Capital from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, September 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.20.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

Shares of AXS opened at $54.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.82. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $51.25 and a 52 week high of $63.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $56.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.01.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.10% and a net margin of 10.11%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 29th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.12%.

AXIS Capital Profile

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides various specialty insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. It operates through two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Insurance segment offers property insurance products for commercial buildings, residential premises, construction projects, and onshore energy installations; marine classes covering offshore energy, cargo, liability, kidnap and ransom, fine art, specie, and hull war; and terrorism, aviation, credit and political risk, and liability insurance products.