ING Groep NV Takes $494,000 Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 86.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at $228,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 54.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $202.64 on Tuesday. 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 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $210.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $204.15.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.