Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. reduced its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 41.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,234 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Assurant by 219.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $206.83 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $208.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. 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 quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

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.