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

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $229.50.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AIZ shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Assurant by 443.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,442,000 after acquiring an additional 10,587 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 49.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 44.9% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Assurant by 8.4% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 9,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,647,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Assurant during the second quarter valued at about $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 0.1 %

AIZ stock opened at $217.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.49. Assurant has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week 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.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assurant will post 15.38 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.82%.

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.