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

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $283.5714.

AIZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $285.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Assurant in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 target price on Assurant in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total transaction of $1,838,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 27,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,191,423.54. This represents a 20.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total value of $6,357,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,717,959.12. This trade represents a 57.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 36,000 shares of company stock worth $9,211,620 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Assurant by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,040,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,213,968,000 after purchasing an additional 29,974 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,125,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,121,000 after buying an additional 205,767 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 697,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,006,000 after buying an additional 49,698 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $161,574,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 640,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,248,000 after buying an additional 31,432 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

AIZ opened at $279.35 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $252.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.23. Assurant has a 52-week low of $183.39 and a 52-week high of $279.50.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.79 EPS. Assurant’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 21.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.01%.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.

Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.