Bank of New York Mellon Corp Raises Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,010,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 959,259 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.10% of Assurant worth $1,085,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Assurant by 3.8% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Assurant by 72.6% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Assurant by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $237.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $233.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.82. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.97 and a 1-year high of $243.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $5.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.23 by $1.50. Assurant had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 18.61%. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is an increase from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Assurant from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Zacks Research cut shares of Assurant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.67.

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.