Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 159,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,756 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,079,000 after purchasing an additional 24,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at $329,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 3.6 %

NYSE AIZ opened at $211.44 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.09. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.61.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AIZ. Truist Financial lifted 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. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

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.