Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 75.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Assurant were worth $149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,179,000 after acquiring an additional 255,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.9% in the second 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 in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Assurant by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 566,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,118,000 after buying an additional 96,021 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Assurant by 11,480.4% during 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 buying an additional 460,937 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 0.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 383,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,765,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $227.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 0.57. 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $202.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.43.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This is an increase from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 20.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,321,240.44. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

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.