Yahoo Finance Should You Retain Assurant (AIZ) Stock in Your Portfolio?
Assurant, Inc. AIZ has been gaining momentum on the back of a well-performing Global Lifestyle business, growth of fee-based capital-light businesses, solid capital management, favorable estimates and effective capital deployment.
Earnings Estimates
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Assurant’s 2024 earnings per share indicates a year-over-year increase of 4.3%. The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $11.66 billion, implying a year-over-year improvement of 4.1%.
The consensus estimate for 2025 earnings per share and revenues indicates a year-over-year increase of 5% and 3.3%, respectively, from the corresponding 2024 estimates.
Earnings have improved 20.2% in the past five years, better than the industry average of 8.7%.
Earnings Surprise History
Assurant has a decent surprise history, beating earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 42.47%.
Northbound Estimate Revision
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 and 2025 earnings has moved up nearly 3.2% and 1%, respectively, in the past 30 days, reflecting investors’ optimism.
Zacks Rank
The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Over the past year, shares of AIZ have gained 32.5% compared with the industry’s growth of 24.7%.
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Style Score
AIZ has a VGM Score of A. VGM Score helps identify stocks with the most attractive value, best growth and the most promising momentum.
Business Tailwinds
Assurant’s focus on growing fee-based capital-light businesses that presently constitute 52% of segmental revenues bodes well for growth. Management estimates that contribution from the same will continue to grow in double digits over the longer term.
Better performance in Homeowners reflecting higher lender-placed net earned premiums should drive better results at Global Housing. At the same time, growth across Connected Living and Global Automotive should drive Global Lifestyle.
The insurer remains focused on ramping up the Connected Living platform, deploying innovative products and services, and adding new partnerships. These initiatives are expected to double the margins of Connected Living to 8% over the long term.
Investment income, which has been witnessing an increase in net investment income over the past few years, should benefit from higher yields on fixed-maturity securities.
AIZ has a solid capital management policy in place. The insurer has been increasing dividends for the last 19 straight years. During the first quarter of 2024, AIZ repurchased approximately shares for $40 million and paid $37 million in dividends. From Apr 1 through May 3, 2024, the company repurchased shares for $10 million, with $625 million remaining under the current repurchase authorizations. Assurant expects share repurchases in the range of $200-$300 million for 2024. Notably, its free cash flow conversion has remained more than 100% over the last many quarters, reflecting its solid earnings.
Return on equity (ROE) is a measure reflecting how efficiently a company utilizes shareholders’ money. The multi-line insurer’s ROE of 20.1% improved 760 basis points year over year. The figure is better than the industry average of 14.1%.
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the multi-line insurance industry are Radian Group Inc. RDN, Old Republic International Corporation ORI and EverQuote, Inc. EVER, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Radian Group has a solid track record of beating earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 22.79%. In the past year, shares of RDN have jumped 22.6%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RDN’s 2024 and 2025 revenues implies year-over-year growth of 8.2% and 4.9%, respectively.
Old Republic International has a solid track record of beating earnings estimates in three of the last four quarters while missing in one, the average being 6.61%. In the past year, shares of ORI have climbed 27%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ORI’s 2024 and 2025 revenues implies year-over-year growth of 3.8% and 4.4%, respectively.
EverQuote has a solid track record of beating earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 65.16%. In the past year, shares of EVER have skyrocketed 165.9%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EVER’s 2024 and 2025 revenues implies year-over-year growth of 98% and 550%, respectively.
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Assurant, Inc. (AIZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Radian Group Inc. (RDN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
EverQuote, Inc. (EVER) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Old Republic International Corporation (ORI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
