Lazard Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 38,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,054 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $8,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 219.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 503.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 42.8% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Assurant Stock Down 2.9%

AIZ stock opened at $196.54 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The business’s 50-day moving average is $198.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.85. 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 company has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.59.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted 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 return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.78 earnings per share. Assurant’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AIZ shares. StockNews.com raised Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.17.

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.