Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Takes Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $710,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,016,000 after acquiring an additional 891,292 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 11,480.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,460,000 after acquiring an additional 460,937 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth $48,430,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth $26,630,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,392,000 after acquiring an additional 65,874 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $204.54 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average is $209.15 and its 200 day moving average is $205.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 0.62.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.