World Investment Advisors Increases Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

World Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Assurant were worth $1,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Assurant by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,399,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,724,000 after buying an additional 10,956 shares in the last quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at $5,029,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at $219,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,736,000 after purchasing an additional 4,168 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assurant Trading Down 8.0 %

AIZ opened at $187.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $208.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.65. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The stock has a market cap of $9.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 0.53.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AIZ shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of 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 boosted their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.