Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 670,848 Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new stake in Assurant, buying 670,848 shares in the fourth quarter, valued at about $161.6 million. The position represented 1.34% of Assurant at the end of the reporting period.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: nine analysts rate AIZ a Buy and one rates it Hold, with a consensus Moderate Buy and an average price target of $275.83. Several firms recently raised price targets, including Piper Sandler and Truist Financial.
• Assurant reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $5.95 versus estimates of $5.29 and revenue of $3.42 billion above expectations. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.88 per share, payable June 29.

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 670,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $161,574,000. Norges Bank owned 1.34% of Assurant at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Assurant by 606.7% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Assurant by 19.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 290,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,987,000 after buying an additional 47,548 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the first quarter valued at about $203,000. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Assurant by 66.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Assurant by 57.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AIZ shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $275.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $700,818.88. This represents a 42.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total transaction of $6,357,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,717,959.12. This represents a 57.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,650 shares of company stock worth $7,930,981. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ opened at $248.89 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $234.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.56. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.39 and a 1 year high of $260.96.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.Assurant's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. 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 is currently 18.01%.

Assurant Company 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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