Richardson Financial Services Inc. Acquires 77 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 62.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $33,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lyrical Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 783,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,971,000 after acquiring an additional 15,074 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Assurant by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 737,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,194,000 after purchasing an additional 139,680 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Assurant by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,159,000 after purchasing an additional 12,935 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at $108,253,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Assurant by 20.4% during the 2nd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Assurant

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered Assurant from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com raised Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.60.

Assurant Trading Up 0.1 %

AIZ opened at $194.02 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $141.19 and a one year high of $199.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 20.10%.

Assurant Profile

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.