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

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price target on shares of Assurant and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.67.

Assurant Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $193.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $197.76 and a 200-day moving average of $202.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Assurant has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.06 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.94%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total value of $201,930.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,725.75. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Assurant by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Assurant by 219.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Assurant by 133.2% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Assurant by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Company Profile

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.