Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Stock Now Rated “Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $327.14.

Several analysts have weighed in on AIZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $274.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $306.77 on Friday. Assurant has a twelve month low of $209.86 and a twelve month high of $316.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $280.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $6.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $1.40. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.44% and a net margin of 7.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.73 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Assurant will post 22.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 16.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AIZ. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,345,211,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,269,591,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $269,635,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Assurant in the second quarter valued at approximately $76,718,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Assurant by 22.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,125,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,121,000 after buying an additional 205,767 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

The company serves customers and business partners in markets across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.