Prana Capital Management LP Sells 127,510 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Prana Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 74.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 127,510 shares during the quarter. Prana Capital Management LP’s holdings in Assurant were worth $8,779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Assurant in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Assurant during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Assurant by 62.1% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Assurant by 509.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AIZ. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

Assurant Stock Up 0.7 %

AIZ opened at $227.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $204.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.29 EPS. Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.54%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.