Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $708,016,000 after acquiring an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Assurant by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,399,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,724,000 after purchasing an additional 10,956 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter worth about $143,475,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,764,000 after buying an additional 87,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Assurant by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 213,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,533,000 after buying an additional 63,550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AIZ. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $189.45 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $204.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.19. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.