Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Raised to Outperform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) was upgraded by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $230.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $212.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target suggests a potential upside of 15.15% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on AIZ. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.17.

Assurant Price Performance

NYSE:AIZ opened at $199.73 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $210.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.47. Assurant has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. Equities analysts expect that Assurant will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $708,016,000 after purchasing an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Assurant by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,399,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $299,724,000 after buying an additional 10,956 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Assurant by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,392,000 after acquiring an additional 65,874 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Assurant by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 831,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $177,370,000 after acquiring an additional 156,364 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at $143,475,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services.