Covestor Ltd Raises Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 35.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Assurant were worth $65,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 839.4% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of AIZ opened at $169.98 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $168.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.54. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.54 and a fifty-two week high of $189.48.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $4.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.91. Assurant had a net margin of 6.73% and a return on equity of 20.08%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.14 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael P. Campbell sold 1,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.35, for a total transaction of $226,048.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,261,983.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Michael P. Campbell sold 1,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.35, for a total transaction of $226,048.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,261,983.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,084 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.29, for a total transaction of $365,304.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $648,923.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,788 shares of company stock valued at $2,248,489 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Assurant from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.60.

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.