Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Price Target Raised to $320.00

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) had its target price lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $274.00 to $320.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on AIZ. Truist Financial upped their price target on Assurant from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Assurant from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $290.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.14.

Assurant Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $285.69 on Friday. Assurant has a 52-week low of $205.01 and a 52-week high of $303.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $278.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $249.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.24. The company had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.56 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Assurant will post 22.05 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 16.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other news, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total transaction of $1,838,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 27,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,191,423.54. This represents a 20.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nair Biju sold 3,931 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total value of $1,188,970.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,333,747.62. This trade represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AIZ. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Assurant by 26,178.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 15,459,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,151,206,000 after buying an additional 15,400,176 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the second quarter worth $1,345,211,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the second quarter valued at $1,269,591,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the second quarter valued at $269,635,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at $161,574,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.

Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.