Morgan Stanley Cuts Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Price Target to $300.00

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $320.00 to $300.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $290.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $324.29.

Assurant Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE:AIZ opened at $272.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.01 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $279.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.40. Assurant has a 12-month low of $206.03 and a 12-month high of $303.94.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.24. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.40% and a net margin of 7.90%.The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 22.32 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 16.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,931 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total transaction of $1,188,970.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,333,747.62. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,345,211,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,269,591,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Assurant during the second quarter worth $269,635,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Assurant by 22.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,125,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,121,000 after purchasing an additional 205,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Assurant by 9.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 632,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,851,000 after purchasing an additional 53,470 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently 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.