Vanguard Group Inc. Has $1.44 Billion Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,736,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,804 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Assurant worth $1,436,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Assurant by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 127.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Assurant by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,642,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Assurant by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.17.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $211.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.03.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

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.