Dividend Assets Capital LLC Acquires 872 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Dividend Assets Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 872 shares during the period. Assurant accounts for about 2.2% of Dividend Assets Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Dividend Assets Capital LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $11,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AIZ. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $745,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,219,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,642,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 234.9% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 11,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,558,000 after buying an additional 8,413 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AIZ shares. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price target on shares of Assurant and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.67.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total transaction of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,725.75. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assurant Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $198.74 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $195.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.12 and a 52 week high of $230.55. The company has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 0.61.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 24.94%.

Assurant 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.