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

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Assurant from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Assurant from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.17.

Assurant Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $217.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Assurant has a 12-month low of $174.97 and a 12-month high of $246.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.37.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $5.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.55 by $0.06. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 6.81%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Assurant will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 20.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Assurant by 23.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,010,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,247,000 after buying an additional 959,259 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $161,574,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 482.8% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 621,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,805,000 after acquiring an additional 515,127 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 685.2% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 452,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $97,851,000 after acquiring an additional 394,694 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 1,222.0% in the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 356,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,319,000 after acquiring an additional 329,131 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.