Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 93.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 104,684 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Assurant were worth $1,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth $143,475,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 1,499.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 344,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,375,000 after purchasing an additional 322,608 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant by 20,818.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 308,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $646,290,000 after buying an additional 306,650 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,365,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 831,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,370,000 after acquiring an additional 156,364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Down 1.3%

Assurant stock opened at $187.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $197.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.59. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.63 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AIZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 target price on shares of Assurant and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.67.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total transaction of $201,930.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,725.75. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.51% 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.