Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Assurant by 193.9% during the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Assurant by 192.2% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Assurant by 312.8% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other Assurant news, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total value of $3,026,637.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 84,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,666,356.44. This trade represents a 13.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 3,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.53, for a total value of $813,267.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,642,173.75. This represents a 33.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,917,925 in the last three months. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AIZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Assurant from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on Assurant from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark initiated coverage on Assurant in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $243.00.

Assurant Trading Down 0.5%

AIZ opened at $217.44 on Monday. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $174.97 and a one year high of $230.55. The company has a market cap of $10.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.66.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter. Assurant had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter. Assurant has set its FY 2022 guidance at $13.062-$13.512 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 23.17%.

Assurant Company 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 contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services.