Aberdeen Group plc Buys 3,914 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 107.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,914 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Assurant by 606.7% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Assurant by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 290,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,987,000 after purchasing an additional 47,548 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Assurant in the first quarter worth about $203,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 66.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 57.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Assurant from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Assurant from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Assurant from $252.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. 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, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.17.

Assurant Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $224.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22 and a beta of 0.56. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.97 and a 52-week high of $246.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $5.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.79 EPS. Analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.74%.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.

Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.