Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Receives $234.17 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $234.17.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AIZ shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Assurant Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $211.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant has a twelve month low of $160.12 and a twelve month high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.52.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released 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 return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assurant will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other 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 approximately $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 36.7% during the fourth 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. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at $143,475,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 1,499.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 344,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,375,000 after acquiring an additional 322,608 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,430,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Assurant in the 4th quarter worth $34,365,000. 92.65% of the stock is 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.