Optimize Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $370,000.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Assurant by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $708,016,000 after acquiring an additional 891,292 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,399,725 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $299,724,000 after purchasing an additional 10,956 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth $143,475,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $57,764,000 after buying an additional 87,323 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its holdings in Assurant by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 213,550 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,533,000 after acquiring an additional 63,550 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Assurant Price Performance
Assurant stock traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $193.89. 329,598 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 381,300. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $203.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 0.53.
Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. On average, analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.
Assurant Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant
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 shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AIZ shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on 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 decreased their price objective on Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.17.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Assurant
About Assurant
(
Free Report)
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.
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