Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,177 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 54,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,514,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in Assurant by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $184,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 31,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,663,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AIZ shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.50.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $211.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.62. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted 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 company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.