Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 214 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 18.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,471,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 118,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,841,000 after buying an additional 10,251 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 20,818.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 308,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $646,290,000 after buying an additional 306,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Assurant by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price target on Assurant and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.67.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total value of $201,930.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. This trade represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Price Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $196.62 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $195.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.75.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 24.94%.

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.