Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 4,330 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 28.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,330 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $4,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 127.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Assurant by 219.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $206.83 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $208.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.66. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

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.