Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

AIZ has been the subject of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Assurant from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $207.60.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ opened at $192.24 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.89. The firm has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.57. Assurant has a twelve month low of $137.50 and a twelve month high of $199.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.10%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total value of $103,642.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $593,962.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total value of $103,642.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $593,962.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total transaction of $267,195.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,027 shares in the company, valued at $717,329.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,179,000 after buying an additional 255,471 shares in the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Assurant by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 783,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,971,000 after buying an additional 15,074 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Assurant by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 737,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,194,000 after buying an additional 139,680 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Assurant by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,159,000 after buying an additional 12,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter worth about $108,253,000. 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.