Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Buy (B+) Rating for Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS)

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS)‘s stock had its “buy (b+)” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AXS. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.17.

Axis Capital Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE AXS opened at $96.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.73. Axis Capital has a 52-week low of $77.21 and a 52-week high of $107.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $96.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 18.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Axis Capital will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Axis Capital

In other news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total value of $345,345.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 47,295 shares in the company, valued at $4,666,597.65. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total transaction of $420,038.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,269 shares in the company, valued at $1,587,366.33. This represents a 20.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,205 shares of company stock worth $1,188,048 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Axis Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 658 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Axis Capital by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 26,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,755,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. increased its stake in Axis Capital by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 8,358 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $868,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co increased its stake in Axis Capital by 94.0% during the 2nd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Axis Capital by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.