Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on AIZ. Piper Sandler raised shares of Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Assurant and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.67.

Assurant Stock Down 0.8%

Assurant stock traded down $1.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $190.06. 397,606 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 428,305. Assurant has a 1 year low of $160.33 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The firm has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $197.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $202.50.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.78 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Assurant will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total value of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,740,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $784,603,000 after buying an additional 420,069 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,479,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $310,285,000 after buying an additional 323,573 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,399,725 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $299,724,000 after buying an additional 10,956 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 889,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $186,533,000 after buying an additional 72,046 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 841,006 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $176,401,000 after buying an additional 9,142 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.