Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to “Outperform” Rating

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has $230.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $212.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.17.

Assurant Price Performance

Assurant stock opened at $201.22 on Thursday. Assurant has a 52 week low of $160.12 and a 52 week high of $230.55. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $210.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 0.62.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. On average, equities analysts predict that Assurant will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Assurant by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $708,016,000 after purchasing an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at $143,475,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 11,480.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after purchasing an additional 460,937 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 1,499.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 344,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,375,000 after purchasing an additional 322,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,430,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.