Equitable Holdings Inc. Makes New $1.01 Million Investment in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,010,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the second quarter valued at $1,345,211,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Assurant in the second quarter worth about $1,269,591,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth about $269,635,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth about $161,574,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Assurant during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,718,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total transaction of $1,838,970.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 27,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,191,423.54. This represents a 20.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nair Biju sold 3,931 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total value of $1,188,970.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,333,747.62. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AIZ. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $274.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $274.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Assurant from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $327.14.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $285.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $278.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.28. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $205.01 and a one year high of $303.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.24. Assurant had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 22.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.81%.

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.