Raymond James & Associates Sells 1,129 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Raymond James & Associates lowered its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 10.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,129 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Assurant were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ellevest Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 1,526.7% during the 1st quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Assurant by 353.8% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Assurant in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, CAO Francesca Luthi sold 3,700 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.99, for a total transaction of $529,063.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,764.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Richard S. Dziadzio sold 4,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.19, for a total transaction of $572,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,430,558.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Francesca Luthi sold 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.99, for a total transaction of $529,063.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,591,764.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AIZ. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $145.20.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $163.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.58. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.49 and a twelve month high of $167.81. The firm has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $4.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $1.81. Assurant had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 17.47%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 12.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 25th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.48%.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service products and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, leased and financed solutions, and other related services.