T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 238,681 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,621,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 238,681 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 7.23% of Assurant worth $872,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Assurant by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 57.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE:AIZ opened at $260.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.56. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $183.39 and a fifty-two week high of $265.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $243.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $233.89.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.79 earnings per share. Assurant’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 18.01%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other Assurant news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $511,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,741 shares in the company, valued at $700,818.88. The trade was a 42.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total transaction of $503,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,372,650. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AIZ. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $283.57.

Assurant 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.