Dean Investment Associates LLC Has $3.47 Million Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Dean Investment Associates LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 2.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 501 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Assurant by 62.1% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Assurant by 509.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $224.22 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $206.19 and a 200-day moving average of $187.93. The company has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.12 and a 52 week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.