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

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $234.17.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AIZ shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Assurant by 36.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at about $143,475,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 1,499.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 344,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,375,000 after acquiring an additional 322,608 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant during the third quarter worth about $48,430,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Assurant in the fourth quarter worth about $34,365,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $209.43 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $208.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

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.