Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP cut its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 25.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,226 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,175 shares during the quarter. Assurant comprises approximately 1.3% of Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP owned about 0.05% of Assurant worth $5,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Assurant by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $708,016,000 after acquiring an additional 891,292 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Assurant by 6.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Assurant by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,764,000 after buying an additional 87,323 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant in the third quarter worth $48,430,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Assurant by 48.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 192,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,243,000 after acquiring an additional 62,696 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AIZ. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assurant from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Assurant Stock Up 0.7 %

AIZ traded up $1.39 on Tuesday, reaching $210.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 305,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 347,522. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $208.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.83. The company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 0.61.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.