672,898 Shares in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 672,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $143,475,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.31% of Assurant as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Assurant by 127.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Assurant by 219.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 503.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AIZ shares. Truist Financial raised 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. StockNews.com cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Performance

AIZ stock opened at $209.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $208.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.48.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.