Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Takes $248,000 Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Assurant, Inc., purchasing 1,258 shares valued at approximately $248,000.
• Assurant sees significant interest from institutional investors with 92.65% of its stock owned by such entities, including recent buy-ins by Bank of New York Mellon and Invesco Ltd.
• Analyst ratings for Assurant are generally positive, with upgrades leading to a target price range between $235.00 and $255.00, indicating strong market confidence.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,258 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Assurant by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,740,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $784,603,000 after purchasing an additional 420,069 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,479,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $310,285,000 after acquiring an additional 323,573 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 889,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $186,533,000 after acquiring an additional 72,046 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 841,006 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $176,401,000 after acquiring an additional 9,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Assurant by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 581,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $121,951,000 after buying an additional 30,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $238.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $243.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $3,026,637.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 84,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,666,356.44. This trade represents a 13.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 3,900 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.53, for a total value of $813,267.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 7,875 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,173.75. The trade was a 33.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,125 shares of company stock worth $5,917,925. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $208.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 0.55. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.97 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $213.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter. Assurant had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter. Assurant has set its FY 2022 guidance at $13.062-$13.512 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.17%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.