Xponance Inc. Has $1.48 Million Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Xponance Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 299 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Assurant during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Assurant by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Assurant by 219.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Assurant during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $206.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.66.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AIZ. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

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.