AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Short Interest Up 9.9% in November

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of 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 company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 515,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AXS. TD Cowen increased their target price on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $81.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.14.

Institutional Trading of AXIS Capital

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 55.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 80.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in AXIS Capital by 32.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 424.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

NYSE AXS traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $93.95. The company had a trading volume of 552,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 571,319. AXIS Capital has a fifty-two week low of $53.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.69. The stock has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.90.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AXIS Capital will post 10.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is currently 24.41%.

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.