Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 103,108 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 514,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 103,108 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 1.01% of Assurant worth $101,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 12.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 79,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,631,000 after purchasing an additional 8,478 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 192.2% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 14.2% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 7.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 354,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,357,000 after purchasing an additional 24,153 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 42.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assurant Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AIZ opened at $208.99 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $174.97 and a 12-month high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $213.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.95.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter. Assurant had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 5.83%. Assurant has set its FY 2022 guidance at $13.062-$13.512 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 23.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AIZ shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Assurant from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Stephens initiated coverage on Assurant in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Assurant from $238.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $243.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 3,900 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.53, for a total transaction of $813,267.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,173.75. The trade was a 33.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 950 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.96, for a total value of $194,712.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,135 shares in the company, valued at $642,549.60. The trade was a 23.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,917,925. 0.51% of the stock is currently 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.