New York State Common Retirement Fund Increases Holdings in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,200 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Assurant were worth $8,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Assurant by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,010,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,085,247,000 after purchasing an additional 959,259 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the second quarter worth $131,300,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 482.8% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 621,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,805,000 after acquiring an additional 515,127 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Assurant by 685.2% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 452,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,851,000 after acquiring an additional 394,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Assurant by 1,222.0% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 356,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,319,000 after acquiring an additional 329,131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $241.43 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.97 and a 1-year high of $244.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $234.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $5.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.23 by $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 6.75%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 21.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AIZ shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $252.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Zacks Research lowered Assurant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Assurant from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $255.00 price objective on Assurant in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.67.

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.