Assurant, Inc. $AIZ Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 14.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,993 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.26% of Assurant worth $28,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 28.7% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 16,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,596,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Assurant by 7.0% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,240,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Assurant by 24.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in Assurant by 21.1% in the third quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 1,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new stake in Assurant in the third quarter valued at $441,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AIZ shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Assurant from $252.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Assurant from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Assurant from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.17.

Assurant Stock Down 1.9%

AIZ opened at $222.95 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $232.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 0.58. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $174.97 and a fifty-two week high of $246.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.74%.

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.