Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,036 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $11,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 5,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,110,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 15,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assurant Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $260.67 on Monday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.39 and a 1 year high of $261.10. The stock has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $240.07 and a 200 day moving average of $232.98. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. Assurant’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Assurant’s payout ratio is 18.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research report 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 report on Tuesday, May 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. 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 report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $275.83.

Insider Activity

In other Assurant news, 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 value 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. The trade was a 39.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total transaction of $503,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,213,592.28. This trade represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 31,650 shares of company stock valued at $7,930,981 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Assurant Company Profile

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.