Truist Financial Raises Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Price Target to $250.00

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) had its target price upped by Truist Financial from $240.00 to $250.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider's stock.

AIZ has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $231.17.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of AIZ stock traded down $5.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $202.73. 400,419 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 359,659. The company has a market capitalization of $10.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.62. Assurant has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $211.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Assurant by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,399,725 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $299,724,000 after buying an additional 10,956 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Assurant by 6.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $231,392,000 after buying an additional 65,874 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 831,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $177,370,000 after purchasing an additional 156,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter worth $143,475,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

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.