Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 955,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 49,932 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.91% of Assurant worth $230,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 72.6% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the third quarter valued at $34,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AIZ shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Assurant from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Assurant from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler increased 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, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.83.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $219.52 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $222.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.24. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.75 and a twelve month high of $246.31. The company has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 6.81%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.74%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total value of $395,796.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,895 shares in the company, valued at $609,484.35. This trade represents a 39.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.98, for a total value of $158,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,000,256.18. This trade represents a 13.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,650 shares of company stock worth $558,331. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Assurant 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.