T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Has $872.33 Million Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,621,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 238,681 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Assurant worth $872,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,040,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,213,968,000 after purchasing an additional 29,974 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 919,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,500,000 after buying an additional 57,139 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Assurant by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 697,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,006,000 after buying an additional 49,698 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $161,574,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Assurant by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 640,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,248,000 after buying an additional 31,432 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total transaction of $6,357,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,717,959.12. This trade represents a 57.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total value of $503,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. This trade represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,372,650. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assurant Stock Down 0.7%

Assurant stock opened at $260.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.56. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $183.39 and a 52-week high of $265.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $243.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.89.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 18.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AIZ. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Assurant from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $283.57.

Assurant Company 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.