Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $300.00 to $330.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Assurant traded as high as $318.75 and last traded at $315.72, with a volume of 103,503 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $317.21.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Assurant from $274.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Assurant from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Assurant from $274.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $335.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Latitude Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 81.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assurant Trading Down 0.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.83 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $281.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $256.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $6.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $1.40. The business had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.48 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.44% and a net margin of 7.80%. Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.73 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 22.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 16.56%.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of insurance products and services, with a focus on protecting purchases and supporting housing-related needs. Its operations are organized around Global Housing and Global Lifestyle.

Through its housing business, Assurant offers products and services such as renters, manufactured housing, and lender-placed insurance, along with related claims and risk-management solutions. Its lifestyle business provides mobile device protection, extended service contracts, vehicle protection products, and support services for consumers and business partners.

The company serves customers and business partners in markets across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.