Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lowered its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,175 shares during the period. Assurant makes up 1.3% of Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Assurant were worth $5,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Assurant by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Assurant by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Assurant by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Assurant by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,079,000 after acquiring an additional 24,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $329,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $206.83 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $208.65 and its 200 day moving average is $206.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.12 and a 52 week high of $230.55. The stock has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.