Northern Trust Corp Grows Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 23.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 831,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 156,364 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.62% of Assurant worth $177,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Assurant by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,593,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 127.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Assurant by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assurant Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of AIZ stock traded up $3.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $201.14. 123,974 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 447,549. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The stock's 50 day moving average is $199.37 and its 200-day moving average is $206.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90 and a beta of 0.59.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.78 EPS. Assurant's revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on AIZ shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.17.

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.