QRG Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,796 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,021 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in Assurant by 4.4% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 159,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,794,000 after buying an additional 6,756 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Assurant by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,079,000 after acquiring an additional 24,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $254,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AIZ shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.17.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of Assurant stock traded down $1.61 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $204.54. 498,622 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 343,719. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $209.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. On average, equities analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

About Assurant

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.