Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Purchased by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 57.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,963 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AIZ. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position 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 period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 32.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,179,000 after purchasing an additional 255,471 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant in the third quarter worth about $284,730,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Assurant by 20.4% in 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. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Assurant by 751.0% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 60,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,066,000 after buying an additional 53,544 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AIZ. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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 report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $225.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 0.57. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $204.02 and a 200-day moving average of $186.56.

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

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This is an increase from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 22.82%.

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.