B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Invests $280,000 in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AIZ. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 32.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,179,000 after purchasing an additional 255,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Assurant by 1.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,159,000 after purchasing an additional 12,935 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Assurant by 20.4% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 566,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,118,000 after purchasing an additional 96,021 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 11,480.4% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after purchasing an additional 460,937 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Assurant by 0.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 383,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,240.44. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 0.6 %

AIZ opened at $227.46 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $160.12 and a one year high of $230.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.57.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.82%.

Assurant 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.