Norges Bank Acquires New Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 672,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $143,475,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.31% of Assurant as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Assurant by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $708,016,000 after buying an additional 891,292 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the third quarter valued at about $48,430,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the third quarter valued at about $26,630,000. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $57,764,000 after buying an additional 87,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Assurant by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $231,392,000 after purchasing an additional 65,874 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.17.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of AIZ stock traded down $16.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $187.14. The stock had a trading volume of 867,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 371,825. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $208.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.65. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 0.61.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Assurant 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.