First Manhattan CO. LLC. Has $99.87 Million Holdings in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 414,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,192 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned 0.83% of Assurant worth $99,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Assurant by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,040,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,213,968,000 after acquiring an additional 29,974 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Assurant by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 919,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,500,000 after acquiring an additional 57,139 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Assurant by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 697,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,006,000 after acquiring an additional 49,698 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter worth about $161,574,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 640,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,248,000 after purchasing an additional 31,432 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assurant Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $262.33 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $242.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $183.39 and a twelve month high of $265.66. The company has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued 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. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.The business had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,818.88. This trade represents a 42.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total value of $503,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,764 shares in the company, valued at $3,213,592.28. The trade was a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 31,630 shares of company stock valued at $7,926,681 over the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Assurant from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley raised Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price target on Assurant in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $283.57.

Assurant 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.