Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia decreased its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 36.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,124 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Assurant were worth $1,123,000 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 boosted its stake in Assurant by 12.7% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 420,069 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 1,499.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 344,128 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,375,000 after purchasing an additional 322,608 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 20,818.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 308,123 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $646,290,000 after purchasing an additional 306,650 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,365,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Assurant by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 831,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $177,370,000 after purchasing an additional 156,364 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total transaction of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,725.75. This trade represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assurant Stock Performance

Assurant stock opened at $201.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 0.58. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $169.38 and a one year high of $230.55. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $193.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $199.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $1.13. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.17%.

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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