Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Purchased by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Assurant by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,016,000 after purchasing an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 worth $231,392,000 after buying an additional 65,874 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 11,480.4% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after buying an additional 460,937 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Assurant during the third quarter valued at about $48,430,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 48.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 192,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,243,000 after acquiring an additional 62,696 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $204.94 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $208.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $205.73. The stock has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16 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 one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AIZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial increased 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.17.

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.