Bessemer Group Inc. Has $6.54 Million Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $6,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,810,000. Capula Management Ltd bought a new position in Assurant in the fourth quarter worth approximately $201,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Assurant in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,763,000. FIL Ltd grew its stake in Assurant by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 213,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,533,000 after acquiring an additional 63,550 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,848,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $189.45 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $204.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.13. The firm has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.