Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 17.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 24,887 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.33% of Assurant worth $34,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Assurant by 6.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,392,000 after purchasing an additional 65,874 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,179,000 after buying an additional 255,471 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 acquiring an additional 12,935 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Assurant by 11,480.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after acquiring an additional 460,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Assurant by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 383,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,765,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following 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 link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assurant Stock Performance

Assurant stock opened at $207.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $214.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.28. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.12 and a 52 week high of $230.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS 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 company 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 company posted $4.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. This is an increase from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIZ has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.50.

Assurant Company 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.