Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Has $6.29 Million Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,018 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd owned about 0.06% of Assurant worth $6,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the second quarter worth $31,000. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 509.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 62.1% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AIZ shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

Assurant Price Performance

Assurant stock opened at $228.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $201.48 and its 200 day moving average is $185.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. 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.