Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $229.50.

A number of research firms have issued reports on AIZ. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. 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. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Assurant by 509.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Assurant in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Assurant during the third quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $211.09 on Monday. Assurant has a 1-year low of $160.12 and a 1-year high of $230.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 0.62.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant will post 15.38 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 22.82%.

Assurant Company Profile

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.