Assurant, Inc. $AIZ Shares Sold by UBS Group AG

Key Points

• UBS Group AG cut its Assurant stake by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 46,434 shares and leaving it with 116,270 shares valued at about $28 million. Institutional investors still hold a dominant 92.65% of the company.
• Assurant reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $5.95 versus the $5.29 estimate and revenue of $3.42 billion versus $3.29 billion expected. Revenue rose 11.3% year over year, and analysts now expect full-year EPS of 20.93.
• The stock rose 2.4% and analyst sentiment remains constructive, with shares trading at $239.31 and a consensus target price of $258.50. Eight analysts rate the stock a Buy and two rate it Hold, resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus.

UBS Group AG decreased its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 28.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 46,434 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned 0.23% of Assurant worth $28,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Assurant by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 5,339 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Assurant by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 15,917 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Assurant by 72.6% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Assurant by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Assurant by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Assurant Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $239.31 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $223.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 0.56. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $183.39 and a 1-year high of $246.31.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion for 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%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 20.93 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AIZ shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Assurant from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Assurant from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Assurant from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $258.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $395,796.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $609,484.35. The trade was a 39.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 750 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.98, for a total value of $158,235.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,741 shares in the company, valued at $1,000,256.18. The trade was a 13.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 2,650 shares of company stock worth $558,331 in the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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