Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases 2,080 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,080 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.05% of Assurant worth $5,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Assurant by 6.8% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 9,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the first quarter worth about $566,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 4.3% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 5.9% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Assurant by 77.7% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after purchasing an additional 5,685 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $279.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $252.98 and a 200-day moving average of $237.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.55. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $183.39 and a 12 month high of $279.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.79 EPS. Assurant’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. This trade represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total value of $1,838,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 27,374 shares in the company, valued at $7,191,423.54. This represents a 20.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 36,000 shares of company stock worth $9,211,620 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on AIZ shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Assurant in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.57.

About Assurant

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.