Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Buys 206 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Assurant were worth $842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,238,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $464,981,000 after acquiring an additional 573,309 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Assurant by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,748,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,581,000 after purchasing an additional 191,750 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Assurant by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,865,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $267,848,000 after purchasing an additional 109,123 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Assurant by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 638,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,652,000 after purchasing an additional 85,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Assurant by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 597,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,777,000 after purchasing an additional 9,167 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assurant Trading Down 1.9 %

AIZ opened at $173.62 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.77 and a 1-year high of $189.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $178.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.50.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.88. Assurant had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 18.36%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AIZ. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Assurant from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.20.

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.