Versant Capital Management Inc Increases Position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 55.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 165 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $33,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,707,110 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $482,113,000 after purchasing an additional 75,085 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,788,802 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $209,785,000 after buying an additional 27,750 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,321,271 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $150,928,000 after buying an additional 545,546 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,246,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $81,034,000 after buying an additional 20,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,054,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,825,000 after buying an additional 64,438 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AXIS Capital has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.71.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of AXS traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $72.87. The company had a trading volume of 56,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 602,281. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.90. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $52.90 and a 12-month high of $78.74.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.41. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 19.70%. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.35 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXIS Capital

In other AXIS Capital news, Director Michael Millegan purchased 1,400 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $71.49 per share, with a total value of $100,086.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,553.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Michael Millegan acquired 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $71.49 per share, for a total transaction of $100,086.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,553.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stanley A. Galanski acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $71.43 per share, with a total value of $142,860.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 11,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $840,231.09. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.