Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AIZ. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.17.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $208.11 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $202.47. Assurant has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55. 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 company has a market cap of $10.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 0.62.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. Sell-side analysts predict that Assurant will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Assurant by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $708,016,000 after acquiring an additional 891,292 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,399,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,724,000 after buying an additional 10,956 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,392,000 after buying an additional 65,874 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at about $143,475,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 11,480.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after buying an additional 460,937 shares in the last quarter. 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.