Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 325 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 325 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Assurant in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Assurant by 219.1% in the 4th 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. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Assurant by 509.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

Assurant Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $205.62. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. As a group, analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s 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.