AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.44

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.44 per share by the insurance provider on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

AXIS Capital has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 23 years. AXIS Capital has a dividend payout ratio of 15.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect AXIS Capital to earn $11.66 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 15.1%.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of AXIS Capital stock traded down $1.22 on Friday, hitting $92.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 425,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 569,642. The company has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.94. AXIS Capital has a 1 year low of $53.49 and a 1 year high of $94.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.24.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.16. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital will post 10.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $81.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on AXIS Capital from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AXIS Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.14.

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.

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