Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Stock Position Boosted by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 6.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 458,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,693 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $45,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Axis Capital in the first quarter worth about $33,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Axis Capital by 1,542.9% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 575 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Axis Capital by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Axis Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 36.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,184 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Axis Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.86.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Shares of AXS stock opened at $93.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $70.16 and a fifty-two week high of $107.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.55. The firm has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.81.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.77% and a net margin of 14.30%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Axis Capital’s payout ratio is currently 16.92%.

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.