Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $14.57 Million Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 18.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,317 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Assurant worth $14,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,040,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,213,968,000 after acquiring an additional 29,974 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Assurant by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 919,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,500,000 after purchasing an additional 57,139 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Assurant by 7.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 49,698 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Assurant in the 4th quarter worth about $161,574,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Assurant by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 640,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,248,000 after purchasing an additional 31,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AIZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 target price on shares of Assurant in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Assurant from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Assurant from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.43.

Assurant Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $273.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $183.39 and a 12-month high of $284.12. The company has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $263.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $240.89.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.79 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 18.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total value of $503,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,213,592.28. This trade represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total value of $6,357,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,717,959.12. This represents a 57.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,000 shares of company stock worth $9,211,620. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assurant Company 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.