Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of Assurant worth $5,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Assurant by 2.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Assurant by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 159,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,794,000 after acquiring an additional 6,756 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Assurant by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,079,000 after purchasing an additional 24,887 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $254,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $211.18 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $209.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.64.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AIZ. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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 on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.