Assurant, Inc. $AIZ Shares Sold by Aigen Investment Management LP

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management sharply cut its Assurant stake in the fourth quarter, selling 70.6% of its holdings and ending with 4,113 shares valued at about $991,000.
• Assurant reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting $5.95 EPS and $3.42 billion in revenue, both above analyst estimates, while revenue rose 11.3% year over year.
• Wall Street remains upbeat on AIZ: several firms raised price targets, and the stock carries a consensus Buy rating with an average target price of $275.83. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.88 per share, yielding about 1.4%.

Aigen Investment Management LP reduced its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 70.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,113 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,862 shares during the quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP's holdings in Assurant were worth $991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AIZ. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth $111,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at $163,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at $7,855,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Assurant by 1,300.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the period. Finally, Greenline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $260.67 on Monday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $183.39 and a 1-year high of $261.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $240.07 and a 200-day moving average of $232.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.Assurant's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AIZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Assurant from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Assurant from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $275.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total transaction of $6,357,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,717,959.12. This trade represents a 57.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total value of $395,796.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,484.35. This represents a 39.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 31,650 shares of company stock worth $7,930,981. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.

Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.