Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Raises Stock Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,170 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.09% of Assurant worth $10,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 219.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Assurant by 503.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Assurant by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AIZ. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Assurant currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Down 0.2 %

AIZ stock opened at $211.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.64. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

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.