Zacks Research Expects Higher Earnings for Axis Capital

Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q3 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Axis Capital in a research report issued on Monday, October 6th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the insurance provider will post earnings per share of $2.49 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.45. The consensus estimate for Axis Capital’s current full-year earnings is $11.19 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Axis Capital’s Q4 2025 earnings at $2.99 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $11.94 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.13 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $12.43 EPS and Q3 2027 earnings at $3.25 EPS.

AXS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Saturday, September 27th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $119.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.43.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

NYSE AXS opened at $94.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average is $96.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.03. Axis Capital has a 52-week low of $77.21 and a 52-week high of $107.19.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 18.77%. Axis Capital’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Axis Capital by 21.6% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 658 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Axis Capital by 0.5% in the second quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 26,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,755,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. lifted its position in Axis Capital by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 8,358 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its position in Axis Capital by 94.0% in the 2nd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Axis Capital by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axis Capital news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of Axis Capital stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total value of $345,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 47,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,666,597.65. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of Axis Capital stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total value of $420,038.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,587,366.33. This represents a 20.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,205 shares of company stock valued at $1,188,048 in the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Axis Capital’s payout ratio is 16.92%.

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.