Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Break Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $257.49 and traded as high as $265.93. Assurant shares last traded at $263.65, with a volume of 335,728 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AIZ. UBS Group lifted their target price on Assurant from $274.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $274.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 target price on shares of Assurant in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Assurant has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $327.14.

Assurant Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $280.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $257.83. The firm has a market cap of $13.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.24. The company had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 22.28 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,931 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owned 24,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,333,747.62. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Assurant by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,725,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Assurant by 41.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Assurant by 26.3% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Assurant by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $173,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc is a global business services company that provides insurance products and related services supporting major purchases and everyday needs. Its offerings are distributed through partnerships with mobile carriers, retailers, automotive manufacturers and dealers, financial institutions, housing providers, and other businesses.

Through its Global Lifestyle business, Assurant provides mobile device protection, extended service contracts, vehicle service contracts, and related protection products.