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

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 18th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of 0.44 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, October 18th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th.

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 15.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect AXIS Capital to earn $11.60 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 15.2%.

AXIS Capital Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of AXIS Capital stock opened at $78.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.89. AXIS Capital has a 52-week low of $52.90 and a 52-week high of $80.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.85.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.41. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 19.70%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. AXIS Capital’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital will post 10.71 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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