Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

AIZ has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial raised 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.50.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ opened at $217.01 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $215.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.36. Assurant has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. 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 business earned $4.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Assurant will post 15.38 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,392,000 after acquiring an additional 65,874 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Assurant by 11,480.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after purchasing an additional 460,937 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant in the third quarter worth approximately $48,430,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in Assurant by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 192,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,243,000 after purchasing an additional 62,696 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Assurant by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,079,000 after buying an additional 24,887 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assurant Company Profile

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.