4,400 Shares in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Bought by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden bought a new position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $732,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 4.2% during the second quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 1.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 35.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 0.6% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,256,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AIZ shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Assurant from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Assurant from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.60.

Assurant Stock Performance

AIZ opened at $192.92 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $181.44 and a 200-day moving average of $176.93. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.50 and a 12-month high of $199.50. The stock has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.54 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 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.10%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total transaction of $103,642.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $593,962.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Assurant news, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total transaction of $267,195.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares in the company, valued at $717,329.51. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total transaction of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $593,962.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services.