Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 36.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 891,292 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 6.47% of Assurant worth $708,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,125,000. Dividend Assets Capital LLC increased its holdings in Assurant by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 53,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,401,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth $494,000. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Assurant by 337.2% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 13,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,894,000 after purchasing an additional 10,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 2.0 %

AIZ stock opened at $206.84 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $209.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.37. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The company has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.62.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. As a group, analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

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.