State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Cuts Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 520 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 11,480.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after purchasing an additional 460,937 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant in the third quarter valued at $48,430,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth about $284,730,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,630,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,392,000 after acquiring an additional 65,874 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.17.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $200.23 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $210.77 and a 200-day moving average of $203.48. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 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.