Aviva PLC Sells 31,349 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Aviva PLC reduced its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 92.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,349 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Assurant by 28.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,479,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,285,000 after acquiring an additional 323,573 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Assurant by 8.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,051,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $800,054,000 after purchasing an additional 310,455 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Assurant in the first quarter valued at about $28,095,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Assurant by 73.3% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 279,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,577,000 after buying an additional 118,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Assurant by 30.6% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 367,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,688,000 after buying an additional 85,962 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $3,026,637.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 84,647 shares in the company, valued at $18,666,356.44. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,275 shares of company stock worth $4,909,946. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on AIZ shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Assurant in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Assurant in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $238.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark began coverage on Assurant in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Assurant in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.17.

Assurant Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE AIZ opened at $227.07 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $174.97 and a 52 week high of $230.55. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $214.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 19.48%.

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.