Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.80

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 16th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.80 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd.

Assurant has a dividend payout ratio of 16.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Assurant to earn $17.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.8%.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $211.39. 345,470 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 295,615. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $215.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.28. Assurant has a 1-year low of $160.12 and a 1-year high of $230.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 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 company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’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 value of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AIZ. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.50.

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.