Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC Sells 2,335 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC decreased its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,335 shares during the period. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $6,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Assurant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. BOKF NA bought a new position in Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Assurant by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 205.5% during the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of AIZ opened at $260.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.56. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.39 and a 1 year high of $265.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.14.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.79 earnings per share. Assurant’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of Assurant 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 directly owned 18,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,717,959.12. This trade represents a 57.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $511,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,818.88. The trade was a 42.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 29,000 shares of company stock worth $7,372,650 over the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 target price on shares of Assurant in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.