Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 112,540 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 96.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 112,540 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Assurant by 22.3% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 14.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,271,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Assurant by 1.6% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.9% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,080,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Assurant by 101.4% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.96, for a total transaction of $194,712.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,549.60. The trade was a 23.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.53, for a total transaction of $813,267.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,875 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,173.75. The trade was a 33.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,125 shares of company stock worth $5,917,925. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $212.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $213.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.37. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.97 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Truist Financial set a $255.00 price target on shares of Assurant in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $238.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Assurant in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.83.

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