Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Stake Boosted by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 370.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,044 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Assurant were worth $3,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Assurant by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $708,016,000 after acquiring an additional 891,292 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter worth about $143,475,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Assurant by 1,499.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 344,128 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,375,000 after purchasing an additional 322,608 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Assurant by 20,818.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 308,123 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $646,290,000 after purchasing an additional 306,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,365,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total value of $201,930.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AIZ shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price objective on Assurant and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $228.67.

Assurant Stock Up 0.3%

Assurant stock traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $196.81. 484,373 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 512,203. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $197.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.61.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 5.55%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.94%.

About Assurant

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.