(CercleFinance.com) - As the sharpest riser in the CAC 40 at lunchtime today, the insurance group Axa is up around 2%.
However, since the start of 2017, the share has only risen by about 6%, therefore underperforming the market by over 4%.
What are the latest key announcements from Axa? The Investor Day organised on 14 November enabled Axa's boss, Thomas Buberl, to summarise its strategy. First, Axa has confirmed its targets through to 2020. The group also intends to streamline and reorganise its geographic presence by refocusing on markets where it has the strongest presence. In this context, the partial listing of the capital of its US subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life, is now underway: the S-1 form has been filed with the SEC, the US financial regulator and the deal is expected to be finalised in Q2 2018.
Finally, AXA insisted on significant, reliable and sustainable cash generation, supporting its dividend, growth and innovation. Indeed, the group's aims to redistribute between 45% and 55% of its consolidated underlying earnings in dividends. In 2016, it paid a dividend of 1.16 euro last May, up 5.4% year-on-year. In so doing, the amount distributed has increased almost every year since 2009 (when the dividend fell to 0.40 euro), considering that by 2007 it reached 1.20 euro.
However, after its investor day, UBS maintains its 'neutral' rating on the AXA share, with a target price of 24.5 euros. And yet, analysts recognise that the group wants to improve its profile and 'accelerate' synergies and savings, which will benefit the bottom line of its income statement.