Huntington National Bank Raises Holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Huntington National Bank raised its position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 509.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Assurant were worth $39,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Assurant by 32.5% during 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 buying an additional 255,471 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at about $284,730,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 20.4% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 566,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,118,000 after purchasing an additional 96,021 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Assurant by 751.0% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 60,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,066,000 after purchasing an additional 53,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Assurant during the second quarter worth about $7,465,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $219.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.57. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.12 and a 1-year high of $221.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $197.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.16.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 15.05 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. This is a boost from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 20.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

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.