Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $229.50.

Several equities research analysts have commented on AIZ shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

AIZ stock opened at $213.22 on Thursday. Assurant has a twelve month low of $160.12 and a twelve month high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $213.32 and its 200-day moving average is $193.49.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Assurant will post 15.38 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This is an increase from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.82%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 40.2% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,294,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 566,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,118,000 after purchasing an additional 96,021 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Assurant by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Assurant by 18.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,878,000 after purchasing an additional 20,261 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services.