Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Bought by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 370.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing 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.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Assurant Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $199.51 on Tuesday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 0.61. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $196.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.86.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Assurant's payout ratio is 24.94%.

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.

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