California Public Employees Retirement System Has $55.22 Million Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 258,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,353 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.50% of Assurant worth $55,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Assurant by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE AIZ opened at $211.14 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $208.93 and a 200-day moving average of $207.61. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.12 and a 1-year high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.17.

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.