Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Stock Holdings Boosted by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 12.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,740,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 420,069 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 7.35% of Assurant worth $784,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Assurant by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 553 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $995,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Assurant by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Assurant by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,918 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,080,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. This trade represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AIZ shares. Wall Street Zen cut Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price target on shares of Assurant and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.67.

Assurant Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE AIZ traded down $2.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $191.26. 462,616 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 428,799. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $197.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.64. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.