Commerce Bank Buys New Stake in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $707,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in Assurant in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. BOKF NA bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant in the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 81.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AIZ. Weiss Ratings upgraded Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on Assurant in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $316.57.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $288.56 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.01 and a twelve month high of $303.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $277.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $248.73. The firm has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.24. The business had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.43 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 22.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total transaction of $1,838,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 27,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,191,423.54. The trade was a 20.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nair Biju sold 3,931 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total transaction of $1,188,970.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,333,747.62. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.