Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Purchased by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 39.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,367 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in Assurant by 4.4% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 159,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,794,000 after acquiring an additional 6,756 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 24,887 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assurant Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $215.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.11. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.29 EPS. Assurant’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.50.

Assurant 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.