Park Avenue Securities LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 27.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Assurant were worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $986,000. Accurate Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter worth $2,728,000. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Assurant by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,121 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,371,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in Assurant by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 7,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AIZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America boosted 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. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $229.50.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE AIZ traded down $0.29 during trading on Monday, reaching $211.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 345,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,810. The business's fifty day moving average price is $215.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.04. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.12 and a twelve month high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.62.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.29 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.82%.

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.