SG Americas Securities LLC Takes Position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Axis Capital by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Axis Capital by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Axis Capital by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Axis Capital by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,626,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Axis Capital by 7.8% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Axis Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.75.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $100.54 on Thursday. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $68.49 and a 12-month high of $107.19. The company has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a PE ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.53. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.46%.

Axis Capital 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.