Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,401,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,205 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 2.71% of Assurant worth $278,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Assurant by 509.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Assurant by 62.1% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AIZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ opened at $226.15 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.12 and a twelve month high of $227.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $11.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.02.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 20.54%.

Assurant Company Profile

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.