Strs Ohio Raises Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 39.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,993 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Assurant were worth $2,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in Assurant in the first quarter worth $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its position in Assurant by 193.9% in the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 1,133.3% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in 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 buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 312.8% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Assurant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Assurant from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stephens assumed coverage on Assurant in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Assurant from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have 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 target price of $243.83.

Assurant Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE AIZ opened at $212.22 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.67. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $174.97 and a twelve 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 company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other news, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total value of $3,026,637.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 84,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,666,356.44. The trade was a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 950 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.96, for a total value of $194,712.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,549.60. This represents a 23.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 27,125 shares of company stock worth $5,917,925 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.51% 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.