Commerce Bank Sells 230 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Commerce Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 230 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Assurant were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Assurant in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 62.1% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Assurant by 509.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Assurant in the second quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Assurant in the third quarter valued at $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other 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 value of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Assurant Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $228.62 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.14. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55. The company has a market capitalization of $11.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.57.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.29 EPS. Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.82%.

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.