Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Trims Stake in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 343,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,165 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.68% of Assurant worth $74,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Assurant by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,775,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,338,041,000 after buying an additional 88,749 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,010,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,085,247,000 after acquiring an additional 959,259 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Assurant by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,245,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,879,000 after acquiring an additional 53,773 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 665,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,588,000 after purchasing an additional 150,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $131,300,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.17.

Assurant Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of AIZ opened at $222.88 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $235.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.60. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $174.97 and a 12-month high of $246.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $5.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.55 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 20.74%.

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.