US Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 4,035 Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

US Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $680,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Assurant during the third quarter worth $973,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Assurant by 183.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 27,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,914,000 after buying an additional 17,646 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 69.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 3,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 3.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 21,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,034,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the third quarter valued at $224,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assurant Trading Down 2.1 %

AIZ stock traded down $3.73 on Friday, hitting $175.56. 131,964 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 351,989. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.53. Assurant, Inc. has a twelve month low of $118.45 and a twelve month high of $189.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is $178.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.72.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.88. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.36% and a net margin of 5.77%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Assurant from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $170.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Assurant from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Assurant from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.25.

About Assurant

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.