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

Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $250.00.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $238.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Assurant from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Assurant from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th.

Assurant Stock Up 1.5%

AIZ stock opened at $236.92 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $220.90 and a 200 day moving average of $209.28. The firm has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.57. Assurant has a twelve month low of $174.97 and a twelve month high of $237.96. 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 (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 6.75%.Assurant has set its FY 2022 guidance at $13.062-$13.512 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Assurant will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Assurant’s payout ratio is 21.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total value of $3,026,637.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 84,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,666,356.44. The trade was a 13.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cambria Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Assurant by 24.9% in the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth $1,116,000. WBI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 120.4% in the 3rd quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 2,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 1,371 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 12.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Assurant during the third quarter valued at $1,451,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently 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.