Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) Price Target Cut to $119.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $123.00 to $119.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on AXS. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Axis Capital from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.10.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

NYSE:AXS opened at $99.44 on Wednesday. Axis Capital has a 1 year low of $88.07 and a 1 year high of $110.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 7.41, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.54.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 18.12%. Axis Capital’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Axis Capital will post 13.33 EPS for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Axis Capital’s payout ratio is 13.11%.

Institutional Trading of Axis Capital

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,071,887 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $108,700,000 after acquiring an additional 23,109 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 4,278 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 80.8% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 396 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 248.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 468,946 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $47,556,000 after acquiring an additional 15,839 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.