Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Holdings Lifted by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 28.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in Assurant by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 7.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 1.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 26,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,222,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America upped their target price on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.50.

Assurant Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $212.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.62. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.12 and a 1-year high of $230.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $214.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $200.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.29 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,321,240.44. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.