Andra AP fonden Sells 48,100 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Andra AP fonden reduced its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 80.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 48,100 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Assurant were worth $2,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.5% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 7.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,642,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

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

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $204.94 on Monday. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $208.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.73. The firm has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.61.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 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.