Calamos Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 107,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $22,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AIZ. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Assurant by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 98.1% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 1,409 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in Assurant by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 7,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $213,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assurant Price Performance

Assurant stock opened at $212.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $214.72 and a 200-day moving average of $200.33. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.82 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid 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 yield of 1.50%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.82%.

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.