Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $853,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Assurant by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 23,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,032,000 after buying an additional 2,801 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Assurant by 138.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 32,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,505,000 after buying an additional 18,975 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its stake in Assurant by 151.9% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 38,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,570,000 after buying an additional 23,520 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Assurant by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 149,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,136,000 after buying an additional 1,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,192,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $177.05 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.77 and a 1 year high of $189.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AIZ shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Assurant from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.20.

Assurant Company 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.