Strs Ohio Acquires 3,699 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Strs Ohio lifted its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 28.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,699 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 15.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 124,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,076,000 after buying an additional 16,388 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 185,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,786,000 after buying an additional 26,678 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 310,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,277 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Assurant by 198.9% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,889,000 after acquiring an additional 7,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Assurant by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 349,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,144,000 after acquiring an additional 5,462 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AIZ. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price target on shares of Assurant in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, 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 report on Monday, May 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.71.

Assurant Price Performance

NYSE AIZ traded up $4.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $283.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 406,704. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.39 and a 1 year high of $283.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $14.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $253.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.55.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.01%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other Assurant news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $700,818.88. The trade was a 42.19% decrease in their position. The sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,717,959.12. The trade was a 57.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,211,620. 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.