Farther Finance Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 110.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $145,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Assurant by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Assurant by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 159,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,794,000 after buying an additional 6,756 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,079,000 after buying an additional 24,887 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $211.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.12 and a twelve month high of $230.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $208.49 and a 200 day moving average of $206.52.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.