Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,350 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Assurant worth $16,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Assurant by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 124,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,076,000 after acquiring an additional 16,388 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its position in Assurant by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 274,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,537,000 after acquiring an additional 56,009 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Assurant by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 185,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,786,000 after acquiring an additional 26,678 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Assurant by 603.6% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 6,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in Assurant by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 310,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,277 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Assurant from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Assurant from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.83.

Assurant Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE AIZ opened at $257.47 on Monday. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $183.39 and a fifty-two 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.92. The stock has a market cap of $12.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.The business had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued 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 (DPR) is 18.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $700,818.88. This trade represents a 42.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 18,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,717,959.12. This trade represents a 57.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,650 shares of company stock worth $7,930,981. Corporate 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.