Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $234.17.

AIZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $214.67 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $208.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.31. The stock has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Assurant by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 0.5% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Assurant by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 127.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,642,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

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.