Insider Selling: Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) EVP Sells $1,188,970.26 in Stock

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) EVP Nair Biju sold 3,931 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total value of $1,188,970.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,333,747.62. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Assurant Stock Performance

AIZ stock traded down $7.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $289.33. The company had a trading volume of 472,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 404,922. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $201.96 and a one year high of $303.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $244.19.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.24. The business had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.43 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.56 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AIZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on Assurant in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Assurant from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Assurant from $290.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Assurant from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 185,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,786,000 after purchasing an additional 26,678 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Assurant by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 349,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,462 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Assurant by 198.9% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,983 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in Assurant by 972.1% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 12,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,130,000 after buying an additional 11,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in Assurant by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 120,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,098,000 after buying an additional 14,864 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

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.