StockNews.com Lowers Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) to Hold

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on AIZ. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Assurant in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $204.60.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE:AIZ opened at $177.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Assurant has a 12-month low of $136.15 and a 12-month high of $189.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $169.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.66.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.08% and a net margin of 6.73%. Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.89 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 20.10%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Michael P. Campbell sold 1,304 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.35, for a total value of $226,048.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,261,983.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Michael P. Campbell sold 1,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.35, for a total value of $226,048.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,261,983.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Lonergan sold 2,700 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.12, for a total transaction of $475,524.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,484,710.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,788 shares of company stock worth $2,248,489. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter worth $223,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Assurant by 1.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,159,000 after buying an additional 12,935 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Assurant by 2,038.9% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Assurant by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the period. Finally, Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 240.6% in the 2nd quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after acquiring an additional 8,141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

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.