Kentucky Retirement Systems Purchases New Holdings in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Kentucky Retirement Systems acquired a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,308,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 1st quarter worth approximately $22,271,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Assurant by 96.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 151,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,919,000 after buying an additional 74,086 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Assurant by 14.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 23.1% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,813,000 after buying an additional 11,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Assurant by 17.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 79,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,368,000 after acquiring an additional 11,712 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,741 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 36,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,211,620 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $279.71 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $266.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $242.64. 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 $13.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 0.55. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.15 and a 1 year high of $284.64.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 earned $5.79 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AIZ. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Assurant in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings cut Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Assurant from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Assurant from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.43.

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.