Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Purchased by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 13.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,888 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Assurant during the third quarter worth $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Assurant by 62.1% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Assurant by 509.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Price Performance

Assurant stock opened at $217.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly 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. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.29 EPS. Assurant’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on AIZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.50.

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.