Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Has $1.40 Million Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 56.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 10,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,364,000 after acquiring an additional 3,906 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 273.8% during the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 6,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 4,731 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 83,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the 1st quarter worth approximately $410,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $161.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $149.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.95. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.49 and a fifty-two week high of $167.81.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 4.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 14.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 9th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 27th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 24th. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 28.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AIZ. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Assurant from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Assurant from $166.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Assurant from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Assurant in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $157.00.

Assurant Profile

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.