Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Sells 13,366 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 65.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,366 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Assurant were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Assurant during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 62.1% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 509.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Assurant Trading Down 2.5 %

AIZ stock traded down $5.59 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $218.63. 254,378 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 352,655. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $206.19 and a 200-day moving average of $188.06. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 0.61.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.29 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is an increase from Assurant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AIZ shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $229.50.

Assurant Company 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.