Blair William & Co. IL Sells 503 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 12.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 503 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Assurant were worth $721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 3.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.3% in the second quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 4,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $900,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 47.3% in the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 57.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.6% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $207.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.97 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $200.96.

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. Assurant had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter. Assurant has set its FY 2022 guidance at $13.062-$13.512 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $3,026,637.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 84,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,666,356.44. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.96, for a total transaction of $194,712.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,135 shares in the company, valued at $642,549.60. This trade represents a 23.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,917,925. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $238.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $243.00.

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.