Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Buys New Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Assurant by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 181,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,586,000 after acquiring an additional 13,395 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Assurant by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 597,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,777,000 after acquiring an additional 9,167 shares in the last quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc boosted its holdings in Assurant by 0.5% in the third quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 35,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,168,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 7.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,748,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,581,000 after acquiring an additional 191,750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Down 0.9 %

AIZ stock opened at $172.59 on Tuesday. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.41 and a twelve month high of $189.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $178.71 and its 200-day moving average is $167.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.50.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.88. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.36% and a net margin of 5.77%. Sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AIZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Assurant from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $182.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Assurant from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Assurant from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.20.

About Assurant

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.