Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Acquired by Oberweis Asset Management Inc.

Oberweis Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 81,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,600 shares during the period. Oberweis Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $17,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $708,016,000 after purchasing an additional 891,292 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth $143,475,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at $34,365,000. Amundi increased its holdings in Assurant by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,764,000 after acquiring an additional 87,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Assurant by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 213,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,533,000 after purchasing an additional 63,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on AIZ shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.17.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $191.43 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.12 and a 52 week high of $230.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $201.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.60.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.