HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 161 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Assurant by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Assurant by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 7.0% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other 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 transaction of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assurant Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:AIZ opened at $211.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.12 and a twelve month high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 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%. Analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AIZ. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.