Kennedy Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Kennedy Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,888 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Assurant worth $20,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 5,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,110,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Assurant by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 15,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Assurant by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Assurant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.83.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total value of $6,357,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,717,959.12. This trade represents a 57.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $511,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $700,818.88. The trade was a 42.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,650 shares of company stock valued at $7,930,981. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $260.67 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $183.39 and a 52-week high of $261.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $240.07 and a 200-day moving average of $232.94.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 18.01%.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.

Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.