WINTON GROUP Ltd Acquires New Shares in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 27,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,642,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned about 0.06% of Assurant at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Assurant by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 29,974 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Assurant by 15.1% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 862,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $186,808,000 after purchasing an additional 113,235 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at $161,574,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Assurant by 10.1% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 612,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,758,000 after purchasing an additional 56,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Assurant by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 349,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,462 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total transaction of $503,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares in the company, valued at $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,818.88. The trade was a 42.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 31,650 shares of company stock worth $7,930,981 in the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assurant Price Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $257.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $231.87. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $183.39 and a twelve month high of $260.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.56. 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 (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $240.00 to $285.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Assurant has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.83.

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.