Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Stock Rating Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Assurant from $274.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. 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 note on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Assurant from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $274.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $324.29.

Assurant Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $284.53 on Friday. Assurant has a 1-year low of $206.03 and a 1-year high of $303.94. The business’s 50 day moving average is $277.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results 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. Assurant had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Assurant will post 22.40 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,931 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was 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 directly owned 24,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,333,747.62. The trade was a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Bancorp Inc ME purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its stake in Assurant by 81.4% in the second quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Assurant by 27.5% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc (NYSE:AIZ) is a global business services company that provides insurance products and related services. Its offerings are designed to help consumers protect mobile devices, household belongings, vehicles, homes and other significant purchases, while supporting businesses in managing risk and customer relationships.

Assurant operates through three primary business segments: Global Lifestyle, Global Housing and Global Preneed. Global Lifestyle provides mobile device protection, extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics, appliances and vehicles.