Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Cuts Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lowered its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 46.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,115 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,016,000 after purchasing an additional 891,292 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,430,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,630,000. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,764,000 after acquiring an additional 87,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,392,000 after acquiring an additional 65,874 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $211.82 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $209.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.03.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AIZ shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

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.