Squarepoint Ops LLC Buys 18,282 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 1,297.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,282 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AIZ. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Assurant by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 737,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,194,000 after acquiring an additional 139,680 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Assurant by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,159,000 after purchasing an additional 12,935 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Assurant by 20.4% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 566,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,118,000 after purchasing an additional 96,021 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 0.7% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 383,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,765,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Assurant by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 255,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,089,000 after buying an additional 19,839 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares in the company, valued at $717,329.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Assurant news, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total transaction of $267,195.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $717,329.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total transaction of $103,642.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,152 shares in the company, valued at $593,962.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Assurant from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.00.

Assurant Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE AIZ opened at $199.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $141.83 and a one year high of $201.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 19.63% and a net margin of 6.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.89 EPS. Research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.10%.

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.