Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $232.80 and last traded at $232.4550, with a volume of 8115 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $228.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Assurant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Truist Financial set a $255.00 price objective on Assurant in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assurant in a report on Monday, December 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Assurant from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $238.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.00.

Assurant Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $219.98 and its 200-day moving average is $208.63.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 6.75%.The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter. Assurant has set its FY 2022 guidance at $13.062-$13.512 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 21.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $3,026,637.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 84,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,666,356.44. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cambria Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Assurant by 24.9% in the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,116,000. WBI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 120.4% during the 3rd quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 2,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Assurant by 12.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Assurant in the third quarter worth $1,451,000. 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.