Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 304,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 50,460 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.59% of Assurant worth $64,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AIZ. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.5% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Assurant by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Assurant by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Assurant by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Assurant Stock Performance

AIZ stock traded down $5.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $206.15. 384,854 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 368,798. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $208.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant's payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assurant from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three 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 stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

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.