Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 93.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 104,684 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Assurant were worth $1,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Assurant by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Assurant by 219.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Assurant by 133.2% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 765 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Assurant by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at $12,390,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assurant news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total transaction of $201,930.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,725.75. This trade represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Assurant Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of AIZ stock traded down $2.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $187.50. The company had a trading volume of 256,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,561. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.63 and a twelve month high of $230.55. The company has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $197.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.89.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 5.55%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 target price on Assurant and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.67.

Assurant Company 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.