Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 846 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.05% of Assurant worth $5,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the first quarter worth $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 192.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 503.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AIZ shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.83.

Assurant Stock Down 0.0%

AIZ stock opened at $188.07 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $196.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.63 and a 52-week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 5.55%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 24.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In related news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total value of $201,930.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.