Assurant, Inc. $AIZ Stock Position Lowered by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 57.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,459 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Assurant by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,740,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $784,603,000 after buying an additional 420,069 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Assurant by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,479,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,285,000 after buying an additional 323,573 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Assurant in the 1st quarter valued at $28,095,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Assurant by 73.3% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 279,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,577,000 after buying an additional 118,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Assurant by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 367,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,688,000 after purchasing an additional 85,962 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $212.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $174.97 and a twelve month high of $230.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $213.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.51. The firm has a market cap of $10.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.96, for a total value of $194,712.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,549.60. The trade was a 23.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,173.75. This represents a 33.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 27,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,917,925 over the last 90 days. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AIZ. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $238.00 price target for the company. Stephens started coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $255.00 price target on shares of Assurant in a research report on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.83.

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