Biju Nair Sells 3,000 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Stock

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $199.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50-day moving average of $210.44 and a 200-day moving average of $203.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on AIZ shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Assurant by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 27,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the period. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $270,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $791,000. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $568,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $617,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

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.