Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $717,000 Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 309 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Assurant were worth $717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Assurant by 6.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,514,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Assurant by 6.2% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in Assurant by 509.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Assurant by 16.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,064,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Assurant during the third quarter worth about $261,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $219.13 on Wednesday. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $221.94. The stock has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $197.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.16.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.05 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.