Nykredit A S Invests $481,000 in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $481,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Assurant by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,110,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 5,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,931 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total transaction of $1,188,970.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,333,747.62. This trade represents a 13.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 27,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,191,423.54. This trade represents a 20.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Assurant from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on Assurant in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $327.14.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $281.17 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $13.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $281.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $252.50. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.01 and a 12-month high of $303.94.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.24. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.40% and a net margin of 7.90%.The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 22.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.81%.

Assurant 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.