Norges Bank Buys New Holdings in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 664,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $131,300,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Fund Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth $8,590,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Assurant in the second quarter valued at $468,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Assurant by 3.8% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 19,649.2% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 35,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,059,000 after buying an additional 35,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,083,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assurant Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $221.29 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $218.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.14. The stock has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.97 and a 52-week high of $232.02.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 6.75%.Assurant has set its FY 2022 guidance at $13.062-$13.512 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.88 dividend. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 21.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total value of $3,026,637.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 84,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,666,356.44. The trade was a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Monday. Benchmark started coverage on Assurant in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Zacks Research lowered shares of Assurant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $238.00 price objective for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.00.

Assurant Company 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.