GW&K Investment Management LLC Acquires 56,009 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Key Points

• GW&K Investment Management raised its stake in Assurant by 25.6%, buying 56,009 shares to hold 274,862 shares (about 0.55% of the company) valued at roughly $59.54 million, and institutional investors now own 92.65% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive—eight Buy and two Hold ratings—with a MarketBeat consensus target price of $258.17 (average rating "Moderate Buy").
• Recent results and dividend: Assurant beat quarterly EPS estimates ($5.61 vs. $5.55), reported 7.9% revenue growth year-over-year, and declared a $0.88 quarterly dividend (1.5% yield; ex-dividend/record date Feb. 17, payable Mar. 30).

GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 25.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 274,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 56,009 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned 0.55% of Assurant worth $59,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 37,148 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,046,000 after purchasing an additional 10,200 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 1,823.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 45,386 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,871,000 after purchasing an additional 43,026 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Assurant by 23.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,010,373 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,085,247,000 after purchasing an additional 959,259 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 1.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 455,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $89,872,000 after buying an additional 6,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 29.3% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 665,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $143,588,000 after buying an additional 150,907 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Assurant in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $258.17.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $232.01 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $233.47 and a 200-day moving average of $224.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.97 and a 12 month high of $246.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 0.58.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $5.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.55 by $0.06. Assurant had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.79 EPS. Assurant's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.74%.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.

Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.

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