Man Group plc Buys New Stake in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Key Points

• Man Group plc acquired 27,353 Assurant shares worth approximately $7.35 million, giving it a 0.06% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 92.65% of Assurant.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $327.14, compared with the stock’s recent price of $285.69.
• Assurant exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $6.41 in EPS versus $5.17 forecast, while revenue rose 9.4% year over year to $3.45 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.88 per share, yielding about 1.2% annually.

Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 27,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,345,000. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.06% of Assurant at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assurant in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new stake in Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Assurant in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Nair Biju sold 3,931 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total transaction of $1,188,970.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,333,747.62. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total value of $1,838,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 27,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,191,423.54. This represents a 20.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on AIZ shares. Wall Street Zen cut Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Assurant from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 price objective on Assurant in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Assurant from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $274.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $327.14.

Assurant Stock Up 0.1%

AIZ opened at $285.69 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.01 and a 52 week high of $303.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $278.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.24. Assurant had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.56 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 22.05 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.81%.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.

Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.

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