Wall Street Zen Downgrades Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Assurant from a buy to a hold rating, even though the broader analyst consensus remains moderately bullish.
• Most other analysts still favor the stock: nine rate Assurant a Buy and one a Hold, with a consensus price target of $283.57.
• Assurant reported better-than-expected Q1 results, posting EPS of $5.95 versus estimates of $5.29 and revenue of $3.42 billion, while the shares were trading up 1.6% to $264.95.

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 issued on Sunday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AIZ. UBS Group increased their target price on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price target on Assurant in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Assurant in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.57.

Assurant Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE AIZ opened at $264.95 on Friday. Assurant has a 12 month low of $183.39 and a 12 month high of $268.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $248.33 and a 200-day moving average of $235.49. The company has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 21.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total transaction of $1,838,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 27,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,191,423.54. The trade was a 20.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total transaction of $503,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 36,000 shares of company stock worth $9,211,620 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 valued at $27,076,000 after purchasing an additional 16,388 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 25.6% in the third quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 274,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,537,000 after buying an additional 56,009 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 185,949 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,786,000 after buying an additional 26,678 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Assurant by 603.6% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,142 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,547,000 after buying an additional 6,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Assurant by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 310,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $67,320,000 after buying an additional 6,277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Assurant Company Profile

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.

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