QRG Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,796 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $3,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AIZ. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 509.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Assurant in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Assurant in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started 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 on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.17.

Assurant Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:AIZ opened at $207.78 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.62.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Assurant Company 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.