Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,299 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $2,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 5,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Assurant by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,110,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Assurant by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Assurant by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $260.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $244.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.39 and a 1 year high of $265.66.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. 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 presently 18.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly owned 12,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. The trade was a 13.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $700,818.88. This represents a 42.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,372,650 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AIZ. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $283.57.

Assurant Company 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.