Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Acquires 4,123 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 75.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,555 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,123 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in Assurant were worth $2,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Assurant by 7.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,170 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,504,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,475,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 9,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 144.7% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 23,318 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,972,000 after buying an additional 13,787 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. 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 currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AIZ shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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 lowered Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assurant from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIZ traded down $5.45 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $181.56. 738,265 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 373,434. 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 one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The company has a market cap of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $207.77 and a 200 day moving average of $207.66.

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 (EPS) 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 research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.