Assurant, Inc. $AIZ Shares Sold by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,299 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $2,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 65.6% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 205.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $260.25 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $244.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $234.08. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $183.39 and a twelve month high of $265.66. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $12.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AIZ. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group raised their price target on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assurant news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $511,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,818.88. The trade was a 42.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total transaction of $503,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,372,650. 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.