Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.72

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 15th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.72 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%.

Assurant has increased its dividend by an average of 3.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Assurant has a payout ratio of 16.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Assurant to earn $16.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.1%.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ traded down $1.88 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $184.10. 547,943 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 352,166. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $169.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. Assurant has a one year low of $136.15 and a one year high of $189.48.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.08% and a net margin of 6.73%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assurant will post 16.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,084 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.29, for a total value of $365,304.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $648,923.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Assurant news, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $717,329.51. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.29, for a total value of $365,304.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $648,923.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,888 shares of company stock worth $858,548. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Assurant from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.60.

Assurant Company Profile

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.