MUFG Securities EMEA plc Purchases 9,114 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 943.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,114 shares during the quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Assurant were worth $2,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Assurant by 15.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 862,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $186,808,000 after purchasing an additional 113,235 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Assurant in the fourth quarter worth $161,574,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Assurant by 10.1% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 612,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,758,000 after purchasing an additional 56,470 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Assurant by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 349,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,462 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Assurant by 7.8% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 345,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,795,000 after purchasing an additional 25,065 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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 trade represents a 57.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,650 shares of company stock valued at $7,930,981. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AIZ shares. Weiss Ratings raised Assurant from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley raised Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.83.

Assurant Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $249.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $233.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.22. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $183.39 and a 52-week high of $260.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

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

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.