Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 1,700 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price target on Assurant and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.67.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $198.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $195.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 24.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total value of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assurant Profile

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.