Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,646,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,601 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Assurant worth $1,600,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Assurant by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Assurant by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 77,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,551,000 after buying an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Assurant by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,000,000 after buying an additional 2,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Assurant by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Assurant from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Assurant from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Assurant from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.83.

Assurant Stock Up 1.7%

AIZ stock opened at $236.71 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $183.39 and a 1-year high of $246.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $222.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $5.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.55 by $0.06. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 6.81%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 20.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.98, for a total value of $158,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,741 shares in the company, valued at $1,000,256.18. The trade was a 13.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total value of $395,796.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,484.35. This trade represents a 39.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,650 shares of company stock valued at $558,331 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.