BNP Paribas Financial Markets Boosts Holdings in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 104.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,227 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Assurant were worth $28,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Assurant by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 124,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,076,000 after acquiring an additional 16,388 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 37,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,046,000 after purchasing an additional 10,200 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 274,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,537,000 after purchasing an additional 56,009 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 185,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,786,000 after purchasing an additional 26,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 603.6% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 6,127 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:AIZ opened at $251.86 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $183.39 and a one year high of $260.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AIZ shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Assurant from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.83.

Insider Activity

In other Assurant news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total value of $503,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. The trade was a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $395,796.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,484.35. This trade represents a 39.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 31,650 shares of company stock valued at $7,930,981 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.