Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Stock Price

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $248.00 to $240.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.89% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AIZ. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Assurant from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Assurant from $252.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.83.

Assurant Price Performance

Assurant stock traded down $1.84 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $216.42. The stock had a trading volume of 17,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 390,010. Assurant has a 1-year low of $174.97 and a 1-year high of $246.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $224.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.98, for a total value of $158,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,000,256.18. The trade was a 13.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $395,796.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,895 shares in the company, valued at $609,484.35. The trade was a 39.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,650 shares of company stock valued at $558,331. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Assurant by 606.7% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Assurant by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 290,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,987,000 after buying an additional 47,548 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Assurant in the 1st quarter worth about $203,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Assurant by 66.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Assurant by 57.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Company Profile

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.