Insider Selling: Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) EVP Sells $1,838,970.00 in Stock

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total transaction of $1,838,970.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 27,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,191,423.54. This represents a 20.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Assurant Stock Down 1.0%

AIZ stock opened at $261.20 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $235.28. 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 cap of $12.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 0.56. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $183.39 and a 1-year high of $268.67.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders 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 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Assurant by 606.7% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Assurant by 19.6% in the first 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 bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the first quarter worth approximately $203,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 66.6% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 57.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Weiss Ratings cut Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Nine 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.