Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 149 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Assurant by 7.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 6.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 72,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,370,000 after buying an additional 4,317 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. This trade 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 this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $204.94 on Monday. 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 has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $208.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.73. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant presently 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.