Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 2,527 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Assurant, Inc. by 0.8%, owning approximately 0.65% of the company valued at $69.88 million after acquiring an additional 2,527 shares.
• Two analysts rated Assurant with a hold rating, while five provided buy ratings, resulting in an average price target of $228.83.
• Assurant reported a quarterly EPS of $3.39, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a dividend of $0.80 per share with a yield of 1.73%.

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 333,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,527 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.65% of Assurant worth $69,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 12.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Assurant by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,399,725 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $299,724,000 after acquiring an additional 10,956 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 831,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $177,370,000 after acquiring an additional 156,364 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter worth about $143,475,000. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 607,458 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $129,522,000 after purchasing an additional 7,211 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Assurant Price Performance

NYSE AIZ traded down $0.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $186.41. 421,661 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 489,285. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $194.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $199.78. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.63 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.59.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 5.55%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.78 EPS. Assurant's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Assurant's payout ratio is presently 24.94%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total value of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler raised Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Assurant from $217.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.83.

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.