Hartford Investment Management Co. Lowers Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Hartford Investment Management Co. decreased its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 438 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Assurant by 11,480.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,460,000 after acquiring an additional 460,937 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the third quarter worth $48,430,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at $284,730,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,630,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,392,000 after buying an additional 65,874 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.17.

Assurant Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE AIZ opened at $202.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $212.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.51. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The company has a market capitalization of $10.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued 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 net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.82%.

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.