New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $11.09 Million Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,832 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.10% of Assurant worth $11,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Assurant by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,377 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Assurant by 1.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the third quarter worth $302,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Assurant by 86.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 657 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Assurant by 1.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business's 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 directly owns 17,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AIZ. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Down 0.6 %

AIZ stock traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $199.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,094,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,300. The company has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 0.62. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.12 and a 52 week high of $230.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $210.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last released 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

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.