First Trust Advisors LP Buys 53,470 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 632,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,470 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.27% of Assurant worth $137,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Assurant by 0.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Assurant by 22.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,125,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,121,000 after buying an additional 205,767 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Assurant by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 697,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,006,000 after buying an additional 49,698 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Assurant in the fourth quarter worth about $161,574,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Assurant by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 640,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,248,000 after acquiring an additional 31,432 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AIZ. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 target price on Assurant in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings cut Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Assurant from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assurant news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total value of $503,540.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total value of $6,357,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,717,959.12. This represents a 57.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 36,000 shares of company stock worth $9,211,620 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:AIZ opened at $273.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $183.39 and a one year high of $284.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $263.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.89.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.01%.

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.