Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position 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 valued at $464,981,000 after purchasing an additional 573,309 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Assurant by 7.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,748,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,581,000 after acquiring an additional 191,750 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Assurant by 75.1% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 376,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,126,000 after acquiring an additional 161,671 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Assurant by 279.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 179,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,271,000 after acquiring an additional 132,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted 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 valued at $267,848,000 after purchasing an additional 109,123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $172.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $116.46 and a 12 month high of $189.48. The company’s fifty day moving average is $178.83 and its 200-day moving average is $168.97. The firm has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.50.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Equities analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Assurant from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.