Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 36,804 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,736,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,804 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 13.13% of Assurant worth $1,436,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the third quarter worth $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 219.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 503.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Assurant Price Performance

Assurant stock opened at $211.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $209.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.03. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The company has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.