KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires New Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 17,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,807,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,016,000 after buying an additional 891,292 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth $48,430,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Assurant during the third quarter valued at about $26,630,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in Assurant by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,764,000 after acquiring an additional 87,323 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 6.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,392,000 after purchasing an additional 65,874 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

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

Assurant Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $212.29 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $209.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.99. The stock has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.61.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. Analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

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.