Analysts Set Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Price Target at $214.60

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $214.60.

Several brokerages recently commented on AIZ. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $194.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Assurant has a 52-week low of $144.74 and a 52-week high of $201.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.35.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.50. Assurant had a return on equity of 19.63% and a net margin of 6.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Assurant will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total value of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $593,962.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Assurant news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total transaction of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,152 shares in the company, valued at $593,962.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $717,329.51. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 32.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,179,000 after acquiring an additional 255,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Assurant by 1.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,159,000 after acquiring an additional 12,935 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Assurant by 20.4% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 566,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,118,000 after buying an additional 96,021 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 383,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,765,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Assurant by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 255,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,089,000 after purchasing an additional 19,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

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.