Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 2,753 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,753 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.05% of Assurant worth $5,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Assurant by 6.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,392,000 after acquiring an additional 65,874 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,179,000 after purchasing an additional 255,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,159,000 after purchasing an additional 12,935 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 20.4% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 566,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,118,000 after purchasing an additional 96,021 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Assurant by 11,480.4% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after purchasing an additional 460,937 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $225.76 on Tuesday. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $204.02 and a 200-day moving average of $186.56. The company has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 0.57.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 22.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AIZ. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.