Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 2.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 310,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,277 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $67,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Assurant by 23.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,010,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,085,247,000 after purchasing an additional 959,259 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Assurant during the second quarter worth $131,300,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in Assurant by 482.8% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 621,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,805,000 after purchasing an additional 515,127 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Assurant by 685.2% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 452,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,851,000 after buying an additional 394,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Assurant by 29.3% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 665,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,588,000 after buying an additional 150,907 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assurant Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $218.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.58. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.97 and a 52-week high of $246.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $230.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.46.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $5.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.55 by $0.06. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 6.81%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Assurant’s payout ratio is 20.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Assurant from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $252.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.17.

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.