McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC Takes $559,000 Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,621 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Assurant by 0.5% in 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 in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 829 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Assurant by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its position in Assurant by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 26,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,222,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Assurant Price Performance

NYSE AIZ traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $211.39. 345,470 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 281,810. The company has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The firm's 50-day moving average is $215.81 and its 200-day moving average is $197.04.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.29 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $229.50.

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.