SG Americas Securities LLC Has $12.07 Million Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 751.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 60,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,544 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $12,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 18,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,141,000 after buying an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake in Assurant by 43.3% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 12,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,057,000 after purchasing an additional 3,689 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. bought a new stake in Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at $5,479,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Assurant by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 737,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,194,000 after purchasing an additional 139,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in Assurant by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 31,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,262,000 after purchasing an additional 13,932 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $717,329.51. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $717,329.51. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total transaction of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,152 shares in the company, valued at $593,962.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.40.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $197.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 262,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,344. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $189.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.68. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $144.54 and a one year high of $201.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.57.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.10%.

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.