Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) had its price objective boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $224.00 to $225.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AIZ. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.67.

Assurant Price Performance

NYSE:AIZ opened at $192.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.07. The company has a market cap of $9.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.59. Assurant has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.78 earnings per share. Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.94%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total transaction of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,725.75. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. Barclays PLC raised its position in Assurant by 48.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 192,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,243,000 after purchasing an additional 62,696 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Assurant by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in Assurant by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,297,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.