Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on AIZ. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.50.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $217.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 0.62. Assurant has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $199.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.29 earnings per share. Assurant’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Assurant will post 15.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 2.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 159,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,756 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Assurant by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,079,000 after purchasing an additional 24,887 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Assurant by 6.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 72,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,370,000 after purchasing an additional 4,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at about $254,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

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.