Barclays PLC Acquires 62,696 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 48.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 192,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,696 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.37% of Assurant worth $38,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant by 11,480.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,460,000 after acquiring an additional 460,937 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Assurant by 32.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,179,000 after purchasing an additional 255,471 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,430,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth about $284,730,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,630,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $217.87 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.12 and a 12 month high of $230.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $11.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $207.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.15.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $4.29 earnings per share. Assurant’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 22.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AIZ shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.50.

Assurant Company 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.