Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 80,577 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Nordea Investment Management AB lowered its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 585,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 80,577 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 1.17% of Assurant worth $141,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Assurant by 72.6% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 65.6% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $212.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $228.28 and a 200-day moving average of $224.50. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $174.97 and a one year high of $246.31.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $5.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.55 by $0.06. Assurant had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.79 earnings per share. Assurant’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 20.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AIZ. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $252.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Assurant from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.17.

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.