Invesco Ltd. Buys 323,573 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Assurant, Inc. by 28.0% in Q1, now owning 1,479,310 shares valued at approximately $310 million.
• Assurant reported a Q2 EPS of $5.56, surpassing estimates by $1.13, with revenues reaching $3.16 billion—a year-over-year increase of 8.0%.
• The company's quarterly dividend of $0.80 reflects an annual yield of 1.6%, with a payout ratio of 23.17%.

Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 28.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,479,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 323,573 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 2.91% of Assurant worth $310,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Assurant by 12.7% during 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 period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 831,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $177,370,000 after purchasing an additional 156,364 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 607,458 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $129,522,000 after purchasing an additional 7,211 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 581,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $121,951,000 after purchasing an additional 30,629 shares during the period. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 394,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $84,018,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assurant Stock Down 0.1%

Assurant stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $212.81. The stock had a trading volume of 578,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,513. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.97 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The company has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $194.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $199.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Assurant from $217.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Benchmark initiated coverage on Assurant in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Assurant from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Assurant in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $238.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $231.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assurant news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 950 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.96, for a total transaction of $194,712.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $642,549.60. The trade was a 23.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 3,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.53, for a total value of $813,267.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,642,173.75. This represents a 33.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.