State of Alaska Department of Revenue Cuts Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 195 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in Assurant by 4.4% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 159,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,794,000 after buying an additional 6,756 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,079,000 after purchasing an additional 24,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AIZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.50.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $207.46 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.44. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.82 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.82%.

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.