Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Buys 16,500 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Key Points

• Hillsdale Investment Management boosted its Assurant stake by 394.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 16,500 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 20,680 shares worth about $4.98 million.
• Assurant’s recent earnings beat expectations, reporting $5.95 EPS versus the $5.29 consensus and revenue of $3.42 billion, up 11.3% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with nine Buy ratings and one Hold, an average rating of “Moderate Buy,” and a consensus price target of $275.83. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.88 per share.

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 394.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Assurant were worth $4,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Assurant during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new position in Assurant during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Assurant by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA bought a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Assurant by 360.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 161 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Assurant from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $285.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Assurant from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $275.83.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $249.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $232.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $231.02. Assurant, Inc. has a 1-year low of $183.39 and a 1-year high of $260.96. The company has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 7.60%.The business's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.79 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.01%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total value of $6,357,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,717,959.12. This trade represents a 57.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total value of $503,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,650 shares of company stock valued at $7,930,981. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Assurant 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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