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

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) saw a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the October 31st total of 1,010,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 515,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXS traded down $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.06. The company had a trading volume of 180,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 569,322. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.94. AXIS Capital has a 12 month low of $53.49 and a 12 month high of $94.42.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AXIS Capital will post 10.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is currently 24.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXIS Capital

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 37,887 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after acquiring an additional 3,943 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in AXIS Capital by 80.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 55.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 66.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,142 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $787,000 after acquiring an additional 4,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 5.0% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AXS shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $81.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AXIS Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.14.

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.