Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Assurant by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,016,000 after acquiring an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Assurant by 11,480.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,460,000 after acquiring an additional 460,937 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,430,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,630,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Assurant by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,392,000 after acquiring an additional 65,874 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value 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 $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Assurant Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE AIZ opened at $204.94 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 company has a market capitalization of $10.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.61. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $208.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $205.62.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.56%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.