Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) EVP Nair Biju Sells 3,931 Shares of Stock

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) EVP Nair Biju sold 3,931 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total value of $1,188,970.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,333,747.62. This trade represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Assurant Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $289.33 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.51. The company has a market cap of $14.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $201.96 and a 1 year high of $303.94.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.24. The business had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.40%. Assurant’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.61 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 16.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AIZ shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $290.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Assurant from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings cut Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Assurant from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.3% during the fourth 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. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Assurant by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Assurant by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 5,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.