Cynosure Group LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Assurant by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,040,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,213,968,000 after buying an additional 29,974 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Assurant by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 919,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,500,000 after buying an additional 57,139 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Assurant by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 697,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,006,000 after buying an additional 49,698 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at $161,574,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Assurant by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 640,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,248,000 after buying an additional 31,432 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
AIZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $275.83.
Assurant Stock Performance
Shares of AIZ opened at $260.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $241.74 and a 200-day moving average of $233.43. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $183.39 and a one year high of $262.99. The company has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39.
Assurant (NYSE:AIZ – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current year.
Assurant Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.01%.
Insider Activity
In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,818.88. This trade represents a 42.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $395,796.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,484.35. This trade represents a 39.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,650 shares of company stock worth $7,930,981. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.
About Assurant
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.
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