Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Buys 437 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 133.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 437 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 460,937 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,430,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,630,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 65,874 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 3.6 %

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

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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 22.11%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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