Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,372,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,625 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.74% of Assurant worth $330,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Assurant by 606.7% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Assurant by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 290,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,987,000 after acquiring an additional 47,548 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the first quarter worth $203,000. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 66.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 57.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 0.2%

AIZ stock opened at $249.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $233.22 and its 200 day moving average is $231.22. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $183.39 and a one year high of $260.96.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,818.88. This trade represents a 42.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total transaction of $503,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 31,650 shares of company stock valued at $7,930,981. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.83.

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.