Caprock Group LLC Has $372,000 Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 124 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Assurant by 428.0% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 6,215 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Assurant by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth $475,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 18.2% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,010,000 after buying an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 47.3% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 13,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,724,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley initiated 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 for the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.50.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $214.87 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $200.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 0.62. 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 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.82%.

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.