Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $229.50.

AIZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,321,240.44. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Calamos Advisors LLC grew its position in Assurant by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 107,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,824,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in Assurant by 98.1% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 1,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Assurant by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 7,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $211.09 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $215.33 and a 200-day moving average of $198.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 0.62. Assurant has a twelve month low of $160.12 and a twelve month high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.82%.

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.