Brokerages Set Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Target Price at $229.50

Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $229.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AIZ shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd.

Assurant Stock Down 1.0 %

Assurant stock opened at $216.39 on Friday. Assurant has a twelve month low of $160.12 and a twelve month high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $206.92 and a 200-day moving average of $188.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43 and a beta of 0.61.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 15.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This is an increase from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Assurant by 509.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 62.1% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. 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.