Atria Investments Inc Grows Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 51.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 879 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Assurant were worth $511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Assurant by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Assurant by 84.3% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 6,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,874 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Assurant by 608.5% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Assurant by 3,412.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 14,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,757,000 after buying an additional 14,228 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the first quarter worth about $212,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $220.85 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $222.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.47.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.05 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 20.54%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

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.