Dimitry Dirienzo Sells 750 Shares of Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Stock

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.98, for a total value of $158,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,000,256.18. The trade was a 13.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Assurant Price Performance

NYSE:AIZ opened at $217.30 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.55. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.97 and a 1-year high of $246.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.58.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $5.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.55 by $0.06. Assurant had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Assurant by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,775,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,338,041,000 after purchasing an additional 88,749 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Assurant by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,040,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,213,968,000 after buying an additional 29,974 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 919,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,500,000 after acquiring an additional 57,139 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 697,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,006,000 after acquiring an additional 49,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $161,574,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

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.