Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 2,065.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,567 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 73,031 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Axis Capital worth $7,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXS. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 22.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,290,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $328,580,000 after acquiring an additional 600,901 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 95.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,852,398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $185,685,000 after purchasing an additional 903,107 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Axis Capital by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,359,471 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $136,273,000 after purchasing an additional 4,793 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Axis Capital by 28.9% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 964,260 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,109,000 after purchasing an additional 216,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 12.1% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 925,265 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $92,749,000 after buying an additional 99,916 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AXS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 target price on Axis Capital and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $125.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.00.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

AXS stock opened at $101.57 on Thursday. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $83.65 and a 1-year high of $107.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.53. Axis Capital had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company had revenue of $184.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axis Capital news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total transaction of $420,038.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,269 shares in the company, valued at $1,587,366.33. This represents a 20.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total value of $345,345.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 47,295 shares in the company, valued at $4,666,597.65. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 12,205 shares of company stock valued at $1,188,048 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.