Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Price Target Cut to $222.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) had its price objective decreased by Bank of America from $223.00 to $222.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Assurant in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $204.60.

Assurant Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $168.15 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $170.00 and its 200 day moving average is $172.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.54. Assurant has a 1 year low of $124.22 and a 1 year high of $189.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $4.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.08% and a net margin of 6.73%. Equities research analysts forecast that Assurant will post 16.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Assurant’s payout ratio is 20.10%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,084 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.29, for a total value of $365,304.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $648,923.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Michael P. Campbell sold 1,304 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.35, for a total transaction of $226,048.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,261,983.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,084 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.29, for a total transaction of $365,304.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $648,923.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,788 shares of company stock worth $2,248,489. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $108,253,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the first quarter worth $39,013,000. Gillson Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,013,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Assurant by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 737,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,194,000 after buying an additional 139,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Assurant by 279.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 179,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,271,000 after purchasing an additional 132,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.