Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 6,136 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 4.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 131,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,136 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $26,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Assurant by 62.1% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Assurant during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 40.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total value of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $593,962.88. The trade was a 14.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AIZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

Assurant Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $218.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.72. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.32 and a 12-month high of $219.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.57.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.29 EPS. Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.