Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 90,547 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 77.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 90,547 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.05% of Assurant worth $5,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased 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 valued at $231,392,000 after purchasing an additional 65,874 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 32.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $173,179,000 after buying an additional 255,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,677 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $116,159,000 after buying an additional 12,935 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 11,480.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,460,000 after acquiring an additional 460,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant in the third quarter worth $48,430,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AIZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $229.50.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assurant Stock Down 0.9 %

AIZ traded down $1.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $209.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 314,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 297,140. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The stock's 50-day moving average is $215.82 and its 200-day moving average is $197.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.29 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Assurant's payout ratio 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.