JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Stake in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 124,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,388 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $27,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 37,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,046,000 after buying an additional 10,200 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 274,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,537,000 after buying an additional 56,009 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Assurant by 1,823.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 45,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,871,000 after acquiring an additional 43,026 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Assurant by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 455,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,872,000 after acquiring an additional 6,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in 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 valued at $1,085,247,000 after acquiring an additional 959,259 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $252.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Assurant from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.98, for a total transaction of $158,235.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,000,256.18. This trade represents a 13.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $395,796.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,484.35. The trade was a 39.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,650 shares of company stock worth $558,331. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assurant Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $217.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $227.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.50. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $174.97 and a twelve month high of $246.31.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.55 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.79 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.74%.

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.