Allstate Corp Takes $338,000 Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Assurant in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 127.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Assurant by 219.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Assurant by 503.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Assurant by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ opened at $211.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $209.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.64. 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.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. Sell-side analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were 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. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company 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.