Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Acquired by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 192,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 62,696 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.37% of Assurant worth $38,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $80,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Assurant by 40.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Assurant by 24.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,465,000. Finally, HTLF Bank purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at $469,000. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity 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 value of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE:AIZ traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $217.83. 258,563 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 351,352. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.61. The company's 50 day moving average price is $208.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.49.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The firm 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 earned $4.29 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase from Assurant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Assurant's payout ratio is 22.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $251.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.