EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 84 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 30.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $78,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $708,016,000 after acquiring an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 6.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,764,000 after acquiring an additional 87,323 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the third quarter valued at approximately $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 valued at $38,243,000 after purchasing an additional 62,696 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assurant Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:AIZ opened at $212.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $10.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $208.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.43. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. 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 (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, 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, analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.