Mayport LLC Trims Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Mayport LLC lowered its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,880 shares during the quarter. Assurant comprises about 0.5% of Mayport LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Mayport LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. increased 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 period. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in Assurant by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Assurant by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Assurant by 127.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 26,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,222,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Assurant Stock Up 0.8 %

AIZ stock opened at $209.64 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.30. The company has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

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.