Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $265.66 and last traded at $262.3290, with a volume of 361626 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $260.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AIZ. Morgan Stanley raised Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on Assurant in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.57.

Assurant Stock Up 0.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $242.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.79 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 18.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assurant news, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $395,796.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,484.35. This represents a 39.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total value of $503,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. This trade represents a 13.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 31,630 shares of company stock worth $7,926,681 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 15.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 124,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,076,000 after purchasing an additional 16,388 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 25.6% during the third quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 274,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,537,000 after purchasing an additional 56,009 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 185,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,786,000 after purchasing an additional 26,678 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 603.6% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 6,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 2.1% during the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 310,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,320,000 after purchasing an additional 6,277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.

Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.