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

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $229.50.

Several analysts have issued reports on AIZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in Assurant by 0.5% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Assurant by 7.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 62.1% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Assurant by 1.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Assurant by 1.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $207.38 on Thursday. Assurant has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.82%.

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.