Assurant, Inc. $AIZ Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 50.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,563 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. BOKF NA purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 57.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total value of $503,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares in the company, valued at $3,213,592.28. This trade represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total value of $6,357,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,717,959.12. This represents a 57.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 39,931 shares of company stock valued at $10,400,590 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on Assurant in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.57.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE:AIZ opened at $286.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $14.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $271.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $244.96. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $203.16 and a 1-year high of $303.94.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.24. Assurant had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.40%. The company had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.56 EPS. Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.61 EPS 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.81%.

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.