Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Makes New Investment in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $688,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Assurant by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,040,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,213,968,000 after purchasing an additional 29,974 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Assurant during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,345,211,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Assurant by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,125,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,121,000 after buying an additional 205,767 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Assurant by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 697,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,006,000 after buying an additional 49,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $161,574,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Nair Biju sold 3,931 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total transaction of $1,188,970.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,333,747.62. The trade was a 13.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total value of $1,838,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 27,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,191,423.54. The trade was a 20.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AIZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Assurant from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Assurant from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $316.57.

Assurant Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $288.56 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $205.01 and a 12 month high of $303.94. The company has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $277.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $248.73.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.24. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.43 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.40% and a net margin of 7.90%.Assurant’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 22.05 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 16.81%.

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.