Kennedy Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,888 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $20,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Assurant in the 4th quarter worth $161,574,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in Assurant in the 4th quarter worth $36,195,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in Assurant by 205.5% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 216,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,745,000 after purchasing an additional 145,600 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its position in Assurant by 2,977.4% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 129,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,519,000 after purchasing an additional 125,020 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Assurant by 15.1% in the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AIZ. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.83.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $260.67 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $240.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.94. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $183.39 and a 12-month high of $261.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released 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. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 18.01%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total transaction of $503,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. The trade was a 13.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total transaction of $6,357,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,717,959.12. The trade was a 57.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,650 shares of company stock worth $7,930,981. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.