Woodline Partners LP Lowers Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Woodline Partners LP lessened its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 31.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 72,270 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 0.31% of Assurant worth $33,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,773 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,657,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Assurant by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth about $329,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth about $254,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 192,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,243,000 after purchasing an additional 62,696 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,725.75. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. 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. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.67.

Assurant Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:AIZ traded up $3.63 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $196.65. The company had a trading volume of 625,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 397,900. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $197.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.12. The company has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 0.59. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.12 and a 52 week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.78 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.94%.

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.