Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Upgraded at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) was upgraded by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Finviz reports. The brokerage presently has a $230.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $212.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price suggests a potential upside of 14.87% from the company’s previous close.

AIZ has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Down 0.6 %

AIZ stock opened at $200.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 0.62. Assurant has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $210.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.48.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. Equities research analysts forecast that Assurant will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Assurant by 2.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Assurant by 4.4% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 159,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,756 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Assurant by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Assurant by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,079,000 after purchasing an additional 24,887 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.