Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 17.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 24,887 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $34,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 11,480.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,460,000 after purchasing an additional 460,937 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Assurant by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,179,000 after buying an additional 255,471 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth $48,430,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $284,730,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,630,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $207.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $214.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 22.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.