Naples Money Management LLC Acquires Shares of 11,800 Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,988,000. Assurant comprises about 1.9% of Naples Money Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AIZ. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Assurant by 11.5% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after buying an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant in the 1st quarter worth approximately $211,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 15,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Assurant by 17.5% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in Assurant by 6.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 7,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,386,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AIZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Assurant from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $170.00 to $182.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Assurant from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Assurant from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.20.

Assurant Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Assurant stock traded up $2.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $173.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 259,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 355,337. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.50. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.43 and a 1-year high of $189.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.73.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.88. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.36% and a net margin of 5.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.67 earnings per share for the current year.

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.