Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 6,136 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,136 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.25% of Assurant worth $26,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Assurant by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,179,000 after buying an additional 255,471 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the third quarter valued at approximately $284,730,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Assurant by 20.4% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 566,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,118,000 after acquiring an additional 96,021 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Assurant by 751.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 60,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,066,000 after purchasing an additional 53,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,465,000. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 1.6 %

Assurant stock opened at $218.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.72. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.32 and a 1-year high of $219.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total value of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,152 shares in the company, valued at $593,962.88. This trade represents a 14.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.