Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Holdings Trimmed by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 52.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,130 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,079,000 after buying an additional 24,887 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 72,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,370,000 after acquiring an additional 4,317 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth $244,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth $1,214,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.50.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assurant Trading Down 0.8 %

Assurant stock opened at $205.32 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The stock has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.62.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 22.82%.

Assurant Company 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.