Qube Research & Technologies Ltd Grows Position in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 482.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 621,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 515,127 shares during the quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd’s holdings in Assurant were worth $122,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Assurant by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 455,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,872,000 after buying an additional 6,041 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 7.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 354,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,357,000 after acquiring an additional 24,153 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 16.0% in the second quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 8,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the second quarter valued at $268,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 80.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 103,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,649,000 after purchasing an additional 46,156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other Assurant news, CEO Keith Demmings sold 13,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $3,026,637.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 84,647 shares in the company, valued at $18,666,356.44. This trade represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Assurant from $248.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Truist Financial set a $255.00 target price on shares of Assurant in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $238.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.00.

Assurant Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of AIZ opened at $222.67 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $219.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.14. The company has a market capitalization of $11.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.97 and a 1-year high of $232.02.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter. Assurant had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 18.61%. Assurant has set its FY 2022 guidance at $13.062-$13.512 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This is a positive change from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.42%.

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.