Csenge Advisory Group Lowers Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Csenge Advisory Group reduced its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 57.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,257 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,691 shares during the quarter. Csenge Advisory Group's holdings in Assurant were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 79,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,631,000 after buying an additional 8,478 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in Assurant by 192.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Assurant by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,163 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Assurant by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 10,187 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,137,000 after buying an additional 3,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Assurant by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,034 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $188.25 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $196.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $200.90. 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 stock has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.59. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.63 and a 52-week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 5.55%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research 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 was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors 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 yield of 1.70%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Assurant from $217.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on the stock in a 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $228.83.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of Assurant 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,725.75. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

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.

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