Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 438 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 438 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 85.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $841,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Assurant by 9.1% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Assurant by 1.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 11.2% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the third quarter valued at $302,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assurant Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $202.73 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $212.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. As a group, analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.80 per share. 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 1.58%. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AIZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Finally, 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 for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $231.17.

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.