Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,080 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $5,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Assurant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. BOKF NA bought a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Assurant by 57.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Assurant by 205.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Assurant news, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total transaction of $6,357,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,717,959.12. This represents a 57.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 27,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,191,423.54. This trade represents a 20.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,211,620. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIZ has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Assurant in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.57.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ opened at $279.35 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.20. The firm has a market cap of $13.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.55. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.39 and a 1 year high of $279.50.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.01%.

About Assurant

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.