FIL Ltd Has $45.53 Million Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 42.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 213,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,550 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned 0.42% of Assurant worth $45,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 10.8% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 5,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Assurant by 82.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Assurant by 198.4% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 41,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,334,000 after purchasing an additional 27,866 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in Assurant by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 2,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Assurant by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $190.19 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $204.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AIZ. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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.