Brokerages Set Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Target Price at $234.17

Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $234.17.

AIZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Trading of Assurant

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position 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 worth $708,016,000 after purchasing an additional 891,292 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at about $143,475,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 1,499.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 344,128 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,375,000 after buying an additional 322,608 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 20,818.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 308,123 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $646,290,000 after buying an additional 306,650 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,365,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assurant Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AIZ traded down $1.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $193.89. 329,598 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 380,814. Assurant has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $204.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.15.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. Equities analysts predict that Assurant will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

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.