Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

AIZ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research raised Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Assurant from $290.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Assurant from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Assurant from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $335.29.

Assurant Stock Up 3.4%

AIZ stock opened at $317.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.66. Assurant has a one year low of $209.86 and a one year high of $317.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $281.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $256.66.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $6.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.75 by $1.40. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.44% and a net margin of 7.80%. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.73 EPS. Assurant’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant will post 22.99 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.56%.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Assurant in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,345,211,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,826,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the second quarter valued at approximately $269,635,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the second quarter worth $8,700,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 173.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,340,000 after purchasing an additional 15,252 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of insurance products and services, with a focus on protecting purchases and supporting housing-related needs. Its operations are organized around Global Housing and Global Lifestyle.

Through its housing business, Assurant offers products and services such as renters, manufactured housing, and lender-placed insurance, along with related claims and risk-management solutions. Its lifestyle business provides mobile device protection, extended service contracts, vehicle protection products, and support services for consumers and business partners.

The company serves customers and business partners in markets across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.