Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $234.17.

AIZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assurant from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted 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 purchasing an additional 891,292 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 10,956 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 65,874 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Assurant by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 831,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $177,370,000 after acquiring an additional 156,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth $143,475,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assurant Stock Performance

AIZ stock traded down $5.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $206.83. 1,361,802 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 349,234. Assurant has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $208.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

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.