Sei Investments Co. Decreases Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Sei Investments Co. decreased its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,861 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,083 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.08% of Assurant worth $8,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Assurant by 2.3% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,021 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Assurant by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,773 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,657,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Assurant by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Assurant by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,079,000 after purchasing an additional 24,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at about $329,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

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Assurant Price Performance

NYSE AIZ traded down $7.47 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $203.30. 577,438 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 370,536. The company has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 0.61. The firm's 50-day moving average is $208.93 and its 200-day moving average is $207.61. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.17.

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.