Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Buys New Stake in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired 34,633 shares of Assurant, Inc. valued at approximately $7.26 million, representing a 0.07% stake in the company.
• Assurant reported strong quarterly earnings with earnings per share of $5.56, exceeding analyst expectations of $4.43, along with a revenue of $3.16 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 1.5%, payable on September 29th.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 34,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,264,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned about 0.07% of Assurant at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 12.7% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 420,069 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Assurant by 28.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,479,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $310,285,000 after purchasing an additional 323,573 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant by 20,818.1% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 831,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $177,370,000 after buying an additional 156,364 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 3,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.53, for a total transaction of $813,267.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,642,173.75. The trade was a 33.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Keith Demmings sold 4,275 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.27, for a total transaction of $941,654.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 98,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,668,400.44. This represents a 4.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $2,891,288. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Benchmark began coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $233.29.

Assurant Stock Performance

AIZ stock traded down $1.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $214.34. The company had a trading volume of 508,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 461,894. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $198.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $199.29. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $174.97 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $1.13. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.13 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.77 EPS. Assurant has set its FY 2025 guidance at 22.390-22.390 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.17%.

Assurant Company 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.