UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Buys 24,153 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management increased its stake in Assurant, Inc. by 7.3%, acquiring an additional 24,153 shares, raising its total ownership to 354,501 shares valued at approximately $74.36 million.
• According to Wall Street analysts, Assurant has received several upgrades, including a strong-buy rating from Zacks Research and a target price increase by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $225 to $235.
• Assurant announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, with a yield of 1.5%, set to be paid on September 29th, following a recent earnings report that surpassed expectations with $5.56 EPS.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 354,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 24,153 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned about 0.70% of Assurant worth $74,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Assurant by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 56,841 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,120,000 after acquiring an additional 15,377 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 2,288 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter worth about $361,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 3,900 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.53, for a total transaction of $813,267.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 7,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,642,173.75. This trade represents a 33.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 950 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.96, for a total value of $194,712.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,135 shares in the company, valued at $642,549.60. The trade was a 23.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,891,288 in the last 90 days. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Assurant in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $238.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Assurant from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Assurant in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.29.

Assurant Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AIZ traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $209.31. 351,979 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 353,258. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.55. The company's fifty day moving average is $202.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $199.87. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $174.97 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $1.13. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 5.83%.The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.77 EPS. Assurant has set its FY 2025 guidance at 22.390-22.390 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

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

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.