Davis R M Inc. Invests $219,000 in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Davis R M Inc. bought a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 1,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Assurant by 509.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Assurant by 62.1% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $227.46 on Tuesday. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $200.82 and a 200-day moving average of $184.77. 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 company has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.57.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant 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 approximately $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

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.