Plato Investment Management Ltd Has $209,000 Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Plato Investment Management Ltd decreased its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 63.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,719 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Assurant were worth $209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Assurant in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Assurant by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Assurant by 219.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $206.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.62. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $209.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.43.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. Research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.