Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Assurant were worth $2,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Assurant by 40.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 4.2% during the second quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 97.7% in the second quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Assurant by 100.0% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after purchasing an additional 5,763 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ opened at $212.27 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $210.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.91. The company has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.61. 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 (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.50.

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.