Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) CAO Dimitry Dirienzo Sells 2,000 Shares

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,818.88. The trade was a 42.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Dimitry Dirienzo also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 20th, Dimitry Dirienzo sold 750 shares of Assurant stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.98, for a total value of $158,235.00.

Assurant Trading Down 1.6%

AIZ stock traded down $4.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $251.79. 252,620 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 401,223. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.56. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.39 and a 1 year high of $260.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $230.52 and a 200-day moving average of $230.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.79 EPS. Analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Assurant by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,010,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,085,247,000 after buying an additional 959,259 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Assurant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $161,574,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Assurant by 676.5% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 240,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,862,000 after buying an additional 209,300 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Assurant by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,125,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,121,000 after buying an additional 205,767 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Assurant by 122.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 322,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,610,000 after buying an additional 177,642 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AIZ. Morgan Stanley upgraded Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $240.00 to $285.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.83.

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.