Davis R M Inc. Takes $219,000 Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Davis R M Inc. bought a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Assurant in the second quarter worth $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 62.1% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Assurant by 509.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ opened at $227.46 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $200.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.57. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.12 and a 52 week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AIZ. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

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.