Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Assurant stake by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 88,109 shares worth about $21.2 million. Institutional investors continue to dominate ownership, holding 92.65% of the company.
• Assurant reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.95 beating estimates and revenue of $3.42 billion also topping expectations. Revenue rose 11.3% year over year, and analysts now expect full-year EPS of 21.04.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.88 per share, payable June 29, for an annualized yield of 1.4%. Meanwhile, analysts remain broadly positive, with nine Buy ratings and a consensus Moderate Buy target of $275.83.

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,733 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.18% of Assurant worth $21,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 35,088.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 9,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,288,000 after buying an additional 9,474 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 21,996 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,298,000 after buying an additional 2,880 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 21,754 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,239,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Assurant by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 661 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Assurant Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $249.21 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $232.47 and a 200 day moving average of $231.05. The company has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.56. 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 $183.39 and a 12-month high of $260.96.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.79 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total value of $503,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total value of $395,796.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $609,484.35. The trade was a 39.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 31,650 shares of company stock worth $7,930,981 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AIZ. Truist Financial increased their target price on Assurant from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $275.83.

Assurant Profile

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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