McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Assurant by 0.5% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,006,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Assurant by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Assurant by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in Assurant by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 26,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,222,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.50.

Insider Activity

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

Assurant Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $211.39 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.80. The company has a market cap of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.62. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. 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.