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

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.44 per share by the insurance provider on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

AXIS Capital has raised its dividend by an average of 2.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 23 years. AXIS Capital has a dividend payout ratio of 15.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect AXIS Capital to earn $11.66 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 15.1%.

AXIS Capital Stock Down 1.3 %

AXIS Capital stock traded down $1.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $92.83. 479,992 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 569,875. AXIS Capital has a 12 month low of $53.49 and a 12 month high of $94.54. The company has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.24.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.16. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 19.24%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that AXIS Capital will post 10.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on AXS shares. Bank of America increased 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.