Assurant, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.80 (NYSE:AIZ)

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 21st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of 0.80 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th.

Assurant has a payout ratio of 16.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Assurant to earn $19.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.7%.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $203.77 on Friday. Assurant has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $195.37 and a 200 day moving average of $206.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. Assurant’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price objective on Assurant and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total transaction of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 57.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Assurant by 606.7% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Assurant during the first quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Assurant by 66.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Assurant by 19.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 290,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,987,000 after buying an additional 47,548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

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.