KBC Group NV Boosts Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Assurant were worth $995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AIZ. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 219.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 503.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AIZ. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 target price on shares of Assurant and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.67.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $193.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.12 and a 52 week high of $230.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $197.76 and its 200 day moving average is $202.72. The firm has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.59.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.06 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.78 EPS. Research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 24.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total transaction of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,725.75. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assurant 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.