State of Wyoming Raises Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 2,219.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,330 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Assurant were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AIZ. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 606.7% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 290,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,987,000 after buying an additional 47,548 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 2.3%

AIZ stock opened at $257.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $236.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.87. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $183.39 and a 12 month high of $260.96. The company has a market cap of $12.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.56. 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 (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.79 EPS. Assurant’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AIZ. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. 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 report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Assurant from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In related news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares in the company, valued at $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $395,796.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,484.35. This trade represents a 39.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 31,650 shares of company stock worth $7,930,981 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.