AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a drop of 5.3% from the November 30th total of 1,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 550,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

AXS traded down $0.15 on Wednesday, hitting $88.62. 270,901 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 571,641. AXIS Capital has a fifty-two week low of $53.88 and a fifty-two week high of $94.89. The stock has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital will post 10.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AXS. Bank of America lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $81.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of AXIS Capital from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 9.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares during the period. Gries Financial LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 8,717.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,361,250 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $96,172,000 after buying an additional 1,345,811 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,459 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,587,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

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.