Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Position Increased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 947 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Assurant by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,016,000 after buying an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $143,475,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 1,499.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 344,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,375,000 after buying an additional 322,608 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 20,818.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 308,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $646,290,000 after buying an additional 306,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Assurant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,365,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Assurant and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.67.

Assurant Stock Down 1.3%

AIZ stock opened at $195.64 on Thursday. 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 0.41, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $196.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.74.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Assurant’s payout ratio is 24.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total value of $201,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,725.75. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

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.