Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Given New $232.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $232.00 in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AIZ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $238.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research upgraded Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assurant in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Benchmark started coverage on Assurant in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Assurant has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $235.17.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ opened at $216.40 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Assurant has a 12 month low of $174.97 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.58. The stock has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67 and a beta of 0.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $1.13. Assurant had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Assurant has set its FY 2025 guidance at 22.390-22.390 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Assurant will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.17%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.96, for a total transaction of $194,712.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,135 shares in the company, valued at $642,549.60. This represents a 23.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $3,026,637.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 84,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,666,356.44. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,125 shares of company stock worth $5,917,925 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth about $131,300,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 482.8% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 621,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,805,000 after buying an additional 515,127 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Assurant by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,740,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $784,603,000 after purchasing an additional 420,069 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Assurant by 1,222.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 356,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,319,000 after purchasing an additional 329,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Assurant by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,479,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,285,000 after purchasing an additional 323,573 shares during 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.