Assurant: A Leading Financial Services Provider with Impressive Earnings
In a recent announcement on Tuesday, May 2nd, financial services provider Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) reported its quarterly earnings results and the figures speak for themselves. The company posted an impressive $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, which exceeded analysts’ consensus estimates by $1.17. Assurant also reported a return on equity of 13.47%, a net margin of 2.33%, and generated revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter.
Comparing year-over-year figures, Assurant’s revenue for the same period was up by 6.4% – a clear indication that it is well-positioned to continue delivering strong earnings to shareholders moving forward. On Friday, May 26th, the ex-dividend date for the company’s latest quarterly dividend was declared at $0.70 per share; this results in an annualized dividend of $2.80 and a total yield of 2.12%.
Despite these impressive results, shares of Assurant opened at $131.79 on Friday, May 20th carrying a market capitalization of $7 billion, with PE ratio standing at 29:42 and price-to-earnings-growth ratio at just 0:84 with a beta rate less than one at 0:54 as well as having achieved both mid-range targets.
The business has been making strides continuously over time like its concurrent claim against American Nationwide Mortgage Co., regarding their poor due diligence in approving mortgage loans between 2003-2008 which reportedly caused losses worth millions of dollars resulting from fallen real estate prices during July last year amongst other notable legal victories they secured.
Looking ahead to future forecasts based on these strong performances formerly managed under President Jennifer Pagliara assisted by interim CEO Gene Mergelmeyer and new CEO Alan Colberg who was appointed in early 2022 combined with his extensive experience in the finance industry, Assurant is expected to continue its successful run. The company has already shown an impressive financial performance and appears to have a solid plan in place for continued growth moving forward. As such, potential investors can consider Assurant as a viable investment option looking into the future.
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Assurant, Inc. Set to Increase Earnings Per Share This Year
Assurant, Inc. (NYSE: AIZ) is set to increase its earnings per share (EPS) this year, according to recent reports from Zacks Research and other financial analysts. In a report released on May 16th, Zacks Research raised its Q1 2024 EPS estimate for Assurant to $3.05 per share, up from the previous forecast of $3.04. Furthermore, the consensus estimate for Assurant’s full-year earnings currently stands at $13.10 per share.
Assurant has also received positive ratings from several other brokerages in recent weeks. Bank of America upped its price objective for the company from $160 to $164 in a research note, while TheStreet gave Assurant a “b” rating after previously ranking it as a “c+”. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods also raised their rating on the stock from “market perform” to “outperform”.
However, not all analysts are completely bullish on Assurant; Piper Sandler recently cut their target price for the company from $133 to $129 and assigned it a “neutral” rating.
Investors have also been showing faith in the stock in recent months, with hedge funds making changes to their positions. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings of Assurant shares by 353.8% in Q1 2023, while Ellevest Inc.’s stake grew by an impressive 1,526.7% over the same period.
The strong performance of Assurant and positive outlook from analysts suggest that investors could experience strong returns if they decide to invest in this financial services provider. With growing interest in both institutional and smaller investors alike and prices steadily trending higher throughout all iterations of earnings projections supplied by financial institutions assessing said stock since April 2021 per reports found via Bloomberg.com – confidence seems high behind possible growth potential behind such an investment opportunity for many in the present moment.
