Menard Financial Group LLC Purchases Shares of 1,340 Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Assurant by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,159,000 after buying an additional 12,935 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 2,038.9% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the period. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 240.6% in the 2nd quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 8,141 shares during the period. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 72.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 37,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,259,000 after purchasing an additional 15,796 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total transaction of $267,195.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $717,329.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total value of $103,642.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $593,962.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total transaction of $267,195.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $717,329.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Assurant from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.60.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $192.24 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $180.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.85. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.50 and a 52 week high of $199.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 20.10%.

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.