Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 2,097 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 32.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,097 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 127.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Assurant by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,642,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Assurant by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,489,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AIZ. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price target on shares of Assurant and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.67.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $195.78 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $194.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.82. The company has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.61.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.78 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 24.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total value of $201,930.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,725.75. This trade represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.