Equitable Holdings Inc. Takes $1.01 Million Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Equitable Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 3,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,010,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the second quarter worth $31,000. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the first quarter valued at $33,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 target price on Assurant in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Assurant from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Assurant from $274.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Assurant from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.14.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Nair Biju sold 3,931 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total value of $1,838,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 27,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,191,423.54. This trade represents a 20.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 0.1%

AIZ stock opened at $285.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.55. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $205.01 and a 12 month high of $303.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $278.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.