Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,960 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Assurant by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AIZ. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $201.52 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 0.61. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.89.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

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.