Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 30,323 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,402,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,323 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Assurant were worth $233,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 4.2% in the second quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 3.3% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 1.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 35.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.6% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,256,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total value of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $593,962.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total value of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $593,962.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $717,329.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler lowered Assurant from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.60.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $195.62 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.04. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.50 and a 12 month high of $199.50.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 19.63% and a net margin of 6.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.10%.

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.