Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $853,000 Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its position in shares of Assurant by 3.5% in the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Assurant by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,455,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its position in Assurant by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Assurant by 104.6% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Assurant by 52.0% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $177.05 on Thursday. Assurant, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.77 and a 12-month high of $189.48. The stock has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $178.82 and a 200-day moving average of $168.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AIZ. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Assurant from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Assurant from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Assurant from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.20.

About Assurant

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.