Assurant, Inc. $AIZ Shares Acquired by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. boosted its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 84.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,597 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Assurant were worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,345,211,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the second quarter worth about $1,269,591,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the second quarter worth about $269,635,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 22.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,125,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,121,000 after acquiring an additional 205,767 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 9.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 632,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,851,000 after acquiring an additional 53,470 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Assurant from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $331.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $341.86.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of AIZ opened at $321.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $283.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $257.97. Assurant, Inc. has a 12 month low of $209.86 and a 12 month high of $326.20.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $6.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $1.40. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.44% and a net margin of 7.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.48 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.73 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 23.68 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Profile

Assurant, Inc. is a global provider of insurance products and services, with a focus on protecting purchases and supporting housing-related needs. Its operations are organized around Global Housing and Global Lifestyle. Through its housing business, Assurant offers products and services such as renters, manufactured housing, and lender-placed insurance, along with related claims and risk-management solutions. Its lifestyle business provides mobile device protection, extended service contracts, vehicle protection products, and support services for consumers and business partners.