EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 30.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $78,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Assurant by 36.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 6.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,392,000 after buying an additional 65,874 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,764,000 after buying an additional 87,323 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the third quarter valued at about $48,430,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 48.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 192,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,243,000 after buying an additional 62,696 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Assurant Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE AIZ opened at $212.43 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The business’s 50-day moving average is $208.19 and its 200 day moving average is $206.43.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 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 forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

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.