Forsta AP Fonden Increases Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 77.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Assurant were worth $1,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 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 worth $92,460,000 after acquiring an additional 460,937 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,430,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Assurant in the third quarter worth approximately $284,730,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth $26,630,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Assurant by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $231,392,000 after purchasing an additional 65,874 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $229.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assurant Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ traded down $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $214.64. The stock had a trading volume of 387,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,900. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $213.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.02. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The company has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 0.62.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Assurant's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Assurant's 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.