Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 378,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,896 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Assurant were worth $80,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Assurant by 9.4% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in Assurant in the third quarter valued at $229,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 2.3% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 19.1% during the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 2,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assurant during the third quarter worth about $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Down 8.0 %

AIZ opened at $187.14 on Friday. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.57.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on AIZ shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.17.

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.