Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 1,700 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Assurant by 219.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Assurant by 503.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AIZ. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler upgraded Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 target price on Assurant and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.67.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $198.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $195.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $205.35. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 0.61.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total value of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,725.75. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assurant Profile

Assurant, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services.