AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (AXS) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 31st

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.44 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

AXIS Capital has increased its dividend by an average of 1.4% annually over the last three years. AXIS Capital has a payout ratio of 14.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect AXIS Capital to earn $12.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.3%.

AXIS Capital Stock Down 0.1 %

AXS stock opened at $99.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $93.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.74. AXIS Capital has a 52 week low of $60.45 and a 52 week high of $101.42. The company has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.91.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.29. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. On average, research analysts expect that AXIS Capital will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on AXIS Capital from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,959.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,404,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,786,435.50. This represents a 47.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.