Norges Bank Invests $161.57 Million in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Norges Bank bought a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 670,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $161,574,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new position in Assurant during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Assurant by 65.6% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. BOKF NA bought a new position in Assurant during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Assurant by 360.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AIZ shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.83.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $700,818.88. This trade represents a 42.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total transaction of $6,357,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,717,959.12. The trade was a 57.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,650 shares of company stock valued at $7,930,981. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $248.89 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $234.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.53. 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 cap of $12.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.56. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.39 and a 1 year high of $260.96.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.01%.

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.