Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 5,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,125,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Dividend Assets Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 53,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,401,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $494,000. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in Assurant by 337.2% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 13,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,894,000 after buying an additional 10,470 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Assurant by 53.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $329,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Down 0.3 %

AIZ stock opened at $206.27 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $209.63 and a 200-day moving average of $204.59.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. As a group, analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.