Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Has $5.59 Million Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP cut its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,175 shares during the quarter. Assurant accounts for about 1.3% of Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP owned about 0.05% of Assurant worth $5,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Assurant by 2.3% in the third 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 period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,657,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Assurant by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Assurant by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,079,000 after purchasing an additional 24,887 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $329,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Assurant Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $206.83 on Monday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $208.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. Analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

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

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.