Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 38,615 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 992,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38,615 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.91% of Assurant worth $186,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,253,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in Assurant in the first quarter worth $39,013,000. Gillson Capital LP bought a new position in Assurant in the fourth quarter worth $27,013,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Assurant by 23.4% in the fourth 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. Finally, Ossiam bought a new position in Assurant in the fourth quarter worth $14,764,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Assurant in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Assurant from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.60.

Assurant Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ traded up $0.97 on Monday, hitting $174.02. 37,745 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 348,964. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.13 and a 52 week high of $189.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.26. The company has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.54.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $4.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.91. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.08% and a net margin of 6.73%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.10%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, COO Francesca Luthi sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.36, for a total transaction of $1,181,612.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,895,517.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Robert Lonergan sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.12, for a total transaction of $475,524.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,484,710.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Francesca Luthi sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.36, for a total value of $1,181,612.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,748 shares in the company, valued at $1,895,517.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,788 shares of company stock valued at $2,248,489 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Company 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.