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

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,488 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Assurant were worth $10,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Assurant by 219.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 503.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 target price on shares of Assurant and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler upgraded Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total transaction of $201,930.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,725.75. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $193.47 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.85. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.78 earnings per share. Assurant’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.94%.

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.