California Public Employees Retirement System Has $55.22 Million Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 258,962 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,353 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.50% of Assurant worth $55,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $338,000. denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at $282,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 9,555 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,037,000 after buying an additional 4,123 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Assurant by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 48,516 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,345,000 after buying an additional 3,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Assurant by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,504,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Assurant Stock Down 8.0 %

Assurant stock traded down $16.28 during midday trading 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 has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $208.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.75. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.12 and a 1-year high of $230.55.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Assurant

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 value of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assurant from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.17.

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.