Vontobel Holding Ltd. Acquires 198 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 9.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 198 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Assurant by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,179,000 after acquiring an additional 255,471 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,013,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 20.4% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 566,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,118,000 after purchasing an additional 96,021 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 151.7% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 143,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,998,000 after buying an additional 86,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 31.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 239,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,101,000 after buying an additional 57,990 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AIZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.60.

Assurant Price Performance

NYSE:AIZ opened at $194.37 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.57. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.74 and a 12-month high of $201.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $193.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.35.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.50. Assurant had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 20.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $717,329.51. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $717,329.51. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total value of $103,642.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $593,962.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services.