Ballast Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Ballast Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Assurant by 62.1% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Assurant in the second quarter worth approximately $51,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Assurant by 35.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Assurant by 40.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of Assurant stock traded up $7.41 on Wednesday, hitting $200.50. The company had a trading volume of 9,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 342,604. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.57. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.29 and a 1 year high of $201.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $194.45 and a 200-day moving average of $180.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 19.63% and a net margin of 6.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 14.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 19.19%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total transaction of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $593,962.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total transaction of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $593,962.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $717,329.51. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Assurant has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.00.

About Assurant

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.