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

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 202 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 509.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 62.1% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Assurant in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.20.

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 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,321,240.44. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their position. 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 company insiders.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $227.10 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $203.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.07. The company has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.57.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 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.