Assurant (AIZ) versus Its Rivals Financial Analysis

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) is one of 311 publicly-traded companies in the “Insurance” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Assurant to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Assurant has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Assurant’s competitors have a beta of -1.59, suggesting that their average share price is 259% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.7% of Assurant shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.8% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Assurant shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.5% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Assurant pays an annual dividend of $3.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Assurant pays out 16.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Insurance” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 31.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Assurant has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Assurant and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Assurant	7.80%	20.44%	3.37%
Assurant Competitors	8.69%	-9.86%	4.10%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Assurant and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Assurant	0	0	6	2	3.25
Assurant Competitors	3341	15702	16546	743	2.40

Assurant currently has a consensus target price of $341.86, indicating a potential upside of 6.70%. As a group, “Insurance” companies have a potential upside of 5.21%. Given Assurant’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Assurant is more favorable than its competitors.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Assurant and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Assurant	$12.81 billion	$872.70 million	15.07
Assurant Competitors	$15.41 billion	$1.70 billion	33.48

Assurant’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Assurant. Assurant is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Assurant beats its competitors on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc. is a global provider of insurance products and services, with a focus on protecting purchases and supporting housing-related needs. Its operations are organized around Global Housing and Global Lifestyle. Through its housing business, Assurant offers products and services such as renters, manufactured housing, and lender-placed insurance, along with related claims and risk-management solutions. Its lifestyle business provides mobile device protection, extended service contracts, vehicle protection products, and support services for consumers and business partners.