Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $254,000 in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Assurant by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,115,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Assurant by 109.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 33,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,539,000 after acquiring an additional 17,438 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Assurant by 6.2% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 8,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Assurant by 3.6% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 42,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.50.

Assurant Price Performance

NYSE:AIZ opened at $211.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $215.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.44. The stock has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.29 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant 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 value of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,240.44. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.