Short Interest in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Grows By 12.8%

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,320,000 shares, an increase of 12.8% from the September 15th total of 1,170,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 528,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Trading of AXIS Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in AXIS Capital by 32.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 55.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 4.9% in the second quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 3,523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in AXIS Capital by 3.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,212 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in AXIS Capital by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on AXIS Capital from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.86.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

AXS stock opened at $80.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.99. The firm has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. AXIS Capital has a 1 year low of $52.90 and a 1 year high of $82.33.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 19.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AXIS Capital will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is currently 26.91%.

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.