Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $284.64 and last traded at $283.1790, with a volume of 125050 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $283.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Assurant from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.43.

Assurant Trading Up 0.5%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $266.37 and a 200 day moving average of $242.38. The company has a market capitalization of $13.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.Assurant’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 18.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,818.88. This represents a 42.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total value of $1,838,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 27,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,191,423.54. This represents a 20.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,211,620. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 81.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in Assurant during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Assurant in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, BOKF NA bought a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors 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.