Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC Reduces Stake in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC lowered its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,335 shares during the period. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC owned about 0.06% of Assurant worth $6,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Assurant by 0.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,110,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Assurant by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Assurant by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its position in shares of Assurant by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 1,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AIZ. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $283.57.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $260.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $234.14. The stock 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 52 week low of $183.39 and a 52 week high of $265.66.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.79 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of Assurant 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,741 shares of the company’s stock, 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 through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of Assurant 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 directly owned 12,764 shares in the company, valued at $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,000 shares of company stock worth $7,372,650. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.