Great Lakes Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 82.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39,857 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 110.2% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter worth about $705,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AIZ. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $211.44 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $207.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Assurant

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.