Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Assurant were worth $2,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Assurant by 509.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions 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 value of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AIZ shares. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $202.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $210.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. On average, research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Assurant’s payout ratio is 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.