Capula Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Capula Management Ltd purchased a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Assurant by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Assurant by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Assurant by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,079,000 after purchasing an additional 24,887 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at about $329,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $254,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ stock opened at $179.30 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $206.29 and a 200 day moving average of $207.36. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.