Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) Stock

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) had its price objective boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $118.00 to $121.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Axis Capital from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Axis Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.25.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

NYSE AXS opened at $96.26 on Wednesday. Axis Capital has a 12-month low of $70.16 and a 12-month high of $107.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $101.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.73. The company has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.07 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Axis Capital will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 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 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 17.46%.

Institutional Trading of Axis Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Axis Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $88,147,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Axis Capital by 95.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,852,398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $185,685,000 after purchasing an additional 903,107 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Axis Capital by 22.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,290,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $328,580,000 after purchasing an additional 600,901 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Axis Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,893,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Axis Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $37,775,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

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.