B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes $280,000 Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Assurant by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Assurant by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Assurant by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Assurant by 62.1% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Assurant by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $227.46 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.57. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55.

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

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant 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 transaction of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Assurant

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.