AXIS Capital Q3 Earnings and Revenues Beat, Premiums Rise Y/Y

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited AXS posted third-quarter 2024 operating income of $2.71 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.4%. The bottom line increased 16% year over year.Stay up-to-date with all quarterly releases: See Zacks Earnings Calendar.The insurer’s results reflected improved net investment income and higher premiums, offset by poor underwriting income and higher expenses.Axis Capital Holdings Limited Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Axis Capital Holdings Limited price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Axis Capital Holdings Limited QuoteQuarterly Operational Update  Total operating revenues of $1.5 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.4%. The top line rose 6.2% year over year on higher net investment income and higher premiums earned.Net premiums written increased 27% to $1.2 billion, attributable to a 10% increase in the insurance segment and 189% in the reinsurance segment.Net investment income increased 33% year over year to $205 million, primarily attributable to income from fixed maturities portfolio due to increased yields and an increase in fixed maturity assets. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $179 million. Our estimate was $175 million.Total expenses in the quarter under review increased 13% year over year to $1.4 billion due to higher net losses and loss expenses, acquisition costs, interest expense and financing costs. Our estimate was pegged at $1.3 billion.Pre-tax catastrophe and weather-related losses and net of reinsurance were $78 million, including $43 million attributable to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Beryl. The remaining losses were primarily attributable to other weather-related events. The loss was wider than the year-ago loss of $42 million.AXIS Capital’s underwriting income of $135.1 million decreased 8% year over year.The combined ratio deteriorated 40 basis points (bps) to 93.1. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at 94. Our estimate was 93.4.Segment ResultsInsurance: Gross premiums written improved 4.7% year over year to $1.5 billion, driven by increases in property, accident and health, and credit and political risk lines driven by new business. It was partially offset by a decrease in cyber lines principally due to a lower level of premiums associated with program business. Our estimate was $1.6. billion. Net premiums earned increased 15.6% year over year to $1 billion. Our estimate was $974.8 million.Underwriting income of $98.7 million decreased 5.6% year over year. The combined ratio deteriorated 220 bps to 90.4. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for combined ratio was pegged at 89.Reinsurance: Gross premiums written decreased 8.7% year over year to $409 million. The decrease was primarily attributable to liability lines due to the restructuring of significant contracts, together with non-renewals and decreased line sizes in accident and health lines. Our estimate was $522.8 million. Net premiums earned decreased 21.5% year over year to $342.8 million. Our estimate was $415.4 million.Underwriting income of $36.4 million decreased 14.2% year over year. The combined ratio improved 130 bps year over year to 91.4. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for combined ratio was pegged at 107.Financial UpdateAXIS Capital exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $981 million, up 2.9% from the 2023-end level.Debt was $1.3 billion at quarter-end, up 0.08% from the 2023-end level.Book value per share increased 19.6% from 2023-end to $64.65 as of Sept. 30, 2024.Annualized operating return on average common equity was 17.3% in the third quarter, which contracted 70 bps year over year.Capital DeploymentAs of Sept. 30, 2024, AXIS Capital had $260 million of remaining authorization under the open-ended board-authorized share buback program for share repurchases.Zacks RankAXIS Capital currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Performance of Other P&C InsurersChubb Limited CB reported third-quarter 2024 core operating income of $5.72 per share, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 16%. The bottom line increased 15.6% year over year. Net premiums written improved 5.5% year over year to $13.8 billion in the quarter. Our estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate were both pegged at $14.3 billion. Pre-tax net investment income was $1.5 billion, up 14.7% year over year. The figure matched both the Zacks Consensus Estimate as well as our estimate.Revenues of $15 billion missed the consensus estimate by 1.5% and improved 6.5% year over year. Property and casualty (P&C) underwriting income was $1.4 billion, up 11.7% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $1.1 billion. Chubb incurred a pre-tax P&C catastrophe loss, net of reinsurance and including reinstatement premiums of $765 million, which was wider than the year-ago catastrophe loss of $670 million. Kinsale Capital Group KNSL delivered third-quarter 2024 net operating earnings of $4.20 per share, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13.5%. The bottom line increased 26.9% year over year. Operating revenues jumped 33.1% year over year to $418 million. The growth can primarily be attributed to a rise in premiums, fee income, higher net investment income and other income. Revenues beat the consensus estimate by 4.2%. Gross written premiums of $448.6 million rose 18.8% year over year. Our estimate was $475.1 million. Net investment income increased 46.4% year over year to $39.6 million in the quarter and beat our estimate of $38.6 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $37.7 million.Selective Insurance Group, Inc. SIGI reported third-quarter 2024 operating income of $1.40 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 17.1%. The bottom line decreased 7% from the year-ago quarter. Total revenues of $1.2 billion increased 13.9% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. However, the top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.4%.On a year-over-year basis, net premiums written increased 9% to $1.15 billion. The figure was higher than our estimate of $1.2 billion.Net investment income earned, before-tax, increased 17% year over year to $117.8 million. The figure was higher than our estimate of $117.3 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $114 million. After-tax net underwriting income was $4.1 million, which plunged 83% year over year. Pre-tax catastrophe losses more than doubled year over year to $148.8 million. Non-catastrophe property loss and loss expenses of $146.7 million decreased 15.1% year over year.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Chubb Limited (CB): Free Stock Analysis Report Axis Capital Holdings Limited (AXS): Free Stock Analysis Report Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (SIGI): Free Stock Analysis Report Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (KNSL): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks