Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Bought by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Assurant were worth $2,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AIZ. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Assurant in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 62.1% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 509.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 1.2 %

AIZ opened at $211.53 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $215.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.28.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This is an increase from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.82%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.50.

About Assurant

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.