D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Has $824,000 Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. decreased its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 88.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,915 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Assurant were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Assurant by 219.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in Assurant by 503.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Assurant by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AIZ. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price target on shares of Assurant and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.67.

Assurant Price Performance

NYSE AIZ traded up $1.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $199.78. The stock had a trading volume of 903,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,329. The company has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.85.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.06 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.78 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Assurant's payout ratio is 24.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total value of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Assurant

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.