Cibc World Market Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,080 Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Assurant by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,040,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,213,968,000 after buying an additional 29,974 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the second quarter worth approximately $1,345,211,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 22.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,125,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,121,000 after buying an additional 205,767 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 697,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,006,000 after acquiring an additional 49,698 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $161,574,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assurant Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $285.69 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $205.01 and a one year high of $303.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $278.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.28. The stock has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.24. Assurant had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.40%. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 22.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 16.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AIZ. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $274.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Assurant from $274.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six 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 a consensus target price of $327.14.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Nair Biju sold 3,931 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total value of $1,188,970.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,333,747.62. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total transaction of $1,838,970.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 27,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,191,423.54. This represents a 20.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.54% 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.