BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys 50,407 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 57.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 50,407 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.27% of Assurant worth $29,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $708,016,000 after purchasing an additional 891,292 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at about $143,475,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,365,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 831,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $177,370,000 after purchasing an additional 156,364 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Assurant by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,764,000 after purchasing an additional 87,323 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.17.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assurant Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Assurant stock traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $195.34. The company had a trading volume of 329,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,652. The company has a 50 day moving average of $198.62 and a 200 day moving average of $206.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 0.59. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.06 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. Assurant's revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.