AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Short Interest Update

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, a decline of 7.8% from the August 15th total of 1,280,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 510,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXIS Capital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,707,110 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $482,113,000 after acquiring an additional 75,085 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in AXIS Capital by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,075,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $287,909,000 after purchasing an additional 152,914 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,583,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $182,538,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 30.7% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,321,271 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $150,928,000 after buying an additional 545,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 12.5% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,417,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,144,000 after buying an additional 157,110 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AXIS Capital Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AXS traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $79.34. The company had a trading volume of 383,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 582,182. AXIS Capital has a one year low of $52.90 and a one year high of $80.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $74.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.73. The company has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AXIS Capital will post 10.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on AXIS Capital from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America increased their price target on AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued 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 $80.50.

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.