HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Invests $219,000 in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

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

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $203.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 0.61. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.12 and a 1-year high of $230.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $208.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.61.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lifted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.