Bank of America Corp DE Reduces Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Bank of America Corp DE lessened its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 239,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 48,135 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.47% of Assurant worth $51,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,016,000 after acquiring an additional 891,292 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,475,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,365,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Assurant by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 831,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,370,000 after purchasing an additional 156,364 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Assurant by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,764,000 after acquiring an additional 87,323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $202.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.93. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.12 and a twelve month high of $230.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 0.59.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. Assurant’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.17.

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.