Royal Bank of Canada Grows Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,245 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,909 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.19% of Assurant worth $20,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 192,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,243,000 after purchasing an additional 62,696 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at about $254,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,531 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,297,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $241,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Assurant by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related 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 transaction of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,725.75. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Wall Street Zen raised Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. 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. Truist Financial raised their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price target on Assurant and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.67.

Assurant Stock Performance

AIZ stock traded up $2.93 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $202.89. The stock had a trading volume of 88,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,115. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.85. The stock has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 0.59. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.