Strs Ohio Has $5.19 Million Stock Position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 48,480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,266 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $5,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,361,000 after purchasing an additional 7,023 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Axis Capital by 6.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 205,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,605,000 after buying an additional 12,680 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Axis Capital by 86.2% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 47,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,739,000 after buying an additional 21,892 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Axis Capital by 42.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 10,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after buying an additional 3,085 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Axis Capital by 33.6% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Axis Capital from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Mizuho set a $137.00 target price on Axis Capital in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Axis Capital from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.50.

Axis Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $98.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $101.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $88.07 and a 1-year high of $110.34.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.17 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Axis Capital Company Profile

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.