Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Assurant from “buy” to “hold,” though the broader analyst consensus remains “Buy” with an average price target of $324.29.
• Assurant reported quarterly EPS of $6.41, beating estimates of $5.17, while revenue rose 9.4% year over year to $3.45 billion.
• The stock opened at $284.53, with a $14.03 billion market capitalization; institutional investors own approximately 92.65% of outstanding shares.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on AIZ. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Assurant from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $274.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Assurant from $290.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Assurant from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $324.29.

Assurant Stock Performance

AIZ opened at $284.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $277.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.87. Assurant has a 1-year low of $206.03 and a 1-year high of $303.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.24. Assurant had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.40%. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Assurant will post 22.40 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,931 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total transaction of $1,188,970.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,333,747.62. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,345,211,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Assurant in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,269,591,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Assurant during the second quarter valued at approximately $269,635,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Assurant during the second quarter worth about $76,718,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Assurant by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,125,406 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $245,121,000 after buying an additional 205,767 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc NYSE: AIZ is a global business services company that provides insurance products and related services. Its offerings are designed to help consumers protect mobile devices, household belongings, vehicles, homes and other significant purchases, while supporting businesses in managing risk and customer relationships.

Assurant operates through three primary business segments: Global Lifestyle, Global Housing and Global Preneed. Global Lifestyle provides mobile device protection, extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics, appliances and vehicles.

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