Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 3,700 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 28.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AIZ. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Assurant by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 37,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,046,000 after purchasing an additional 10,200 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 1,823.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 45,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,871,000 after buying an additional 43,026 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 1.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 455,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,872,000 after buying an additional 6,041 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,010,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,247,000 after acquiring an additional 959,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 665,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,588,000 after acquiring an additional 150,907 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Price Performance

Assurant stock opened at $232.85 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $233.67 and its 200 day moving average is $224.10. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $174.97 and a one year high of $246.31. The firm has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $5.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.55 by $0.06. Assurant had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 20.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AIZ shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on Assurant from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $252.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.17.

Assurant Profile

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.

Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.