Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,188 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,610 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.22% of Assurant worth $23,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew 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 worth $708,016,000 after acquiring an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,430,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,630,000. Amundi increased its holdings in Assurant by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,764,000 after buying an additional 87,323 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 6.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $231,392,000 after buying an additional 65,874 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assurant Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AIZ stock traded up $1.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $210.83. 305,430 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 347,315. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $208.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.96.

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, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant's payout ratio is 22.11%.

Assurant Profile

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.