Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stake in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 35.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,151 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AIZ. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the first quarter worth $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 193.9% during the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Assurant by 1,133.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Assurant by 312.8% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Assurant by 57.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $226.51 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $174.97 and a twelve month high of $230.55. The stock has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $214.41 and a 200 day moving average of $204.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter. Assurant had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 5.83%. Assurant has set its FY 2022 guidance at $13.062-$13.512 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $3,026,637.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 84,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,666,356.44. This trade represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 22,275 shares of company stock worth $4,909,946 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Assurant from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Stephens assumed coverage on Assurant in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Assurant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.17.

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.