Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $268.95 and last traded at $269.4830, with a volume of 38573 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $267.98.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AIZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 target price on Assurant in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.57.

Assurant Trading Up 2.2%

The firm has a market cap of $13.60 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $250.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 18.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total transaction of $503,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,818.88. This represents a 42.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,211,620. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 205.5% during the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

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.