Plato Investment Management Ltd Sells 1,719 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Plato Investment Management Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 63.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 976 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,719 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Assurant were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 0.5% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,006,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Assurant by 7.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 829 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 26,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,222,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

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Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ traded up $3.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $204.94. 489,429 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 344,441. The stock has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $208.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.51. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

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 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of 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. 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 target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.