Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $214.99 and last traded at $214.62, with a volume of 395053 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

Assurant Trading Up 1.6 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $197.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.72. The stock has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total value of $103,642.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,152 shares in the company, valued at $593,962.88. This trade represents a 14.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Assurant by 11,480.4% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after acquiring an additional 460,937 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Assurant by 32.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,179,000 after acquiring an additional 255,471 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant in the third quarter valued at $48,430,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth $284,730,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth $26,630,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.