Nykredit A S Acquires Shares of 1,790 Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $481,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AIZ. First Bancorp Inc ME purchased a new position in Assurant in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in Assurant by 81.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AIZ. Wall Street Zen downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price target on shares of Assurant in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.14.

Assurant Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $281.17 on Wednesday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.01 and a 1 year 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 company has a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s fifty day moving average is $281.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.50.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $7,191,423.54. This trade represents a 20.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,931 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction 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 approximately $7,333,747.62. This trade 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.

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.