Fmr LLC Purchases 65,874 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Fmr LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,874 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned 2.27% of Assurant worth $231,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its stake in Assurant by 770.1% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 13,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,170,000 after buying an additional 11,551 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Assurant by 44.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 3,909 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Assurant by 443.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,442,000 after purchasing an additional 10,587 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP grew its position in shares of Assurant by 102.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 24,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,121,000 after purchasing an additional 12,529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE AIZ opened at $225.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The stock has a market cap of $11.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.82%.

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.