CW Advisors LLC Acquires 5,109 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

CW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 82.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,109 shares during the quarter. CW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $2,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AIZ. Blueshift Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 98.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 10,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 5,297 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Assurant by 458.4% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 79,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,769,000 after buying an additional 65,546 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Assurant by 62.5% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 1,339 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the second quarter valued at about $131,300,000. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Assurant during the second quarter worth about $8,590,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total value of $3,026,637.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 84,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,666,356.44. The trade was a 13.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Stephens began coverage on Assurant in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Assurant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assurant in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.00.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $222.86 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.97 and a 1-year high of $232.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $219.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 0.57.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 6.75%.Assurant has set its FY 2022 guidance at $13.062-$13.512 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 21.42%.

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.