AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Short Interest Up 5.7% in July

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, a growth of 5.7% from the June 30th total of 1,060,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 564,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AXS shares. UBS Group raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.83.

Insider Transactions at AXIS Capital

In related news, Director Michael Millegan acquired 1,400 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $71.49 per share, for a total transaction of $100,086.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,553.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Michael Millegan acquired 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.49 per share, with a total value of $100,086.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 9,016 shares in the company, valued at $644,553.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director W Marston Becker acquired 3,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.58 per share, for a total transaction of $201,404.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,821 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,842.18. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 6,425 shares of company stock worth $444,351. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXIS Capital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AXIS Capital by 6,997.6% in the 2nd quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,730 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 8,607 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 10.1% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 18,619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 1,712 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 33.9% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in AXIS Capital by 9.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 276,691 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,548,000 after buying an additional 23,135 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital in the 2nd quarter worth about $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXS opened at $74.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.34 and a 200-day moving average of $65.61. AXIS Capital has a one year low of $52.90 and a one year high of $75.00.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.11% and a net margin of 10.34%. AXIS Capital’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital will post 10.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is 26.91%.

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.