Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Buys Shares of 13,171 Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,808,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Assurant by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,016,000 after buying an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,430,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth $26,630,000. Amundi boosted its position in Assurant by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,764,000 after purchasing an additional 87,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Assurant by 6.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,392,000 after purchasing an additional 65,874 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Assurant Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $213.76 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $208.36 and its 200 day moving average is $206.48. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. On average, research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.