Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 65.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,366 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Assurant by 443.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,442,000 after purchasing an additional 10,587 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 49.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Assurant by 44.9% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 3,909 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Assurant by 8.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 9,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant in the second quarter worth approximately $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $224.22 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $206.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. This is an increase from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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 target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.50.

Insider Activity

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.