Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC Has $32.05 Million Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC cut its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 150,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. Assurant comprises 2.3% of Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC owned 0.29% of Assurant worth $32,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Assurant by 1.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,140,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Assurant by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,159,000 after acquiring an additional 12,935 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Assurant by 47.9% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,952,000 after acquiring an additional 3,802 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the second quarter worth approximately $1,742,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Assurant by 4.5% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.50.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $211.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $10.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $215.82 and a 200-day moving average of $197.37. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.12 and a 1-year high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.82%.

Insider Activity

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

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.