Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 4th, 2023

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ – Get Rating)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $120.82, but opened at $126.24. Assurant shares last traded at $133.69, with a volume of 89,872 shares changing hands.

The financial services provider reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.64. Assurant had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $2.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AIZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Assurant from $133.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $160.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.00.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 525 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.68, for a total value of $69,132.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,881 shares in the company, valued at $774,410.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 353.8% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Old North State Trust LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the third quarter worth about $33,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Dupont Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Assurant by 57.7% in the third quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.86% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 9.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a PE ratio of 26.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $118.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

About Assurant

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Assurant, Inc engages in the provision of lifestyle and housing solutions of consumer purchases. It operates through Global Lifestyle and Global Housing segments. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions and extended service products and related services for mobile devices, consumer electronics and appliances, vehicle protection and related services.