Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 34.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,567 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $4,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Assurant by 15.1% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 862,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $186,808,000 after acquiring an additional 113,235 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter worth $161,574,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Assurant by 10.1% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 612,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,758,000 after acquiring an additional 56,470 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Assurant by 1.6% in 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 buying an additional 5,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Assurant by 7.8% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 345,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,795,000 after buying an additional 25,065 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE:AIZ opened at $252.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $183.39 and a 12 month high of $260.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $236.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $232.11.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.79 earnings per share. Assurant’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.01%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,717,959.12. This represents a 57.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total transaction of $503,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,650 shares of company stock worth $7,930,981. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Assurant from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Assurant from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.83.

Assurant Profile

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.