Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Acquires 321 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 321 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Assurant were worth $149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Assurant by 509.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Assurant in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

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

Assurant Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $227.03 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.43. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55. 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 (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its 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 net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. 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 prior year, the business posted $4.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

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.