Stifel Financial Corp Has $1.64 Million Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Stifel Financial Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 18.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,809 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Assurant by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 5,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the third quarter valued at $1,004,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the third quarter valued at $26,630,000. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Assurant by 7.0% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario acquired a new stake in Assurant in the third quarter worth about $333,000. 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 $212.27 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 $10.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.91.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.29 EPS. Assurant’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 1.51%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AIZ shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. 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, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.50.

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.