Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Piper Sandler

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) was upgraded by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $223.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.88% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $192.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 62,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 376,471. Assurant has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $205.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.23.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Assurant by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,471,000 after buying an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 118,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,841,000 after buying an additional 10,251 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 20,818.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 308,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $646,290,000 after buying an additional 306,650 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.