Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 9,812 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,812 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Assurant worth $8,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AIZ. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Assurant by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 181,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,586,000 after buying an additional 13,395 shares in the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter worth $1,988,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Assurant by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Assurant by 1.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 597,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,777,000 after purchasing an additional 9,167 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc grew its stake in Assurant by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 11,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after buying an additional 5,997 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Assurant from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Assurant from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.25.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $180.49 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $178.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.53. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.45 and a fifty-two week high of $189.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.88. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.36% and a net margin of 5.77%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.