Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Buys 5,462 Shares of Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management increased its Assurant stake by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 5,462 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 349,361 shares worth about $84.1 million.
• Insider selling continued at Assurant, with executives Subhashish Sengupta and Jay Rosenblum selling shares in recent transactions; insiders sold 31,650 shares last quarter overall.
• Assurant posted solid results and raised investor interest: quarterly EPS and revenue both beat estimates, the company declared a $0.88 quarterly dividend, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $275.83.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 349,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,462 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.70% of Assurant worth $84,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Assurant by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Assurant by 35,088.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 9,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,288,000 after acquiring an additional 9,474 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in Assurant by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 21,996 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,298,000 after acquiring an additional 2,880 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in Assurant by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 21,754 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,239,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Assurant by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total value of $395,796.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $609,484.35. This trade represents a 39.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly owned 12,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,213,592.28. This trade represents a 13.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,650 shares of company stock worth $7,930,981. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AIZ. UBS Group raised their price objective on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Assurant from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Assurant from $255.00 to $246.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $275.83.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ opened at $247.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $231.72 and a 200 day moving average of $230.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $183.39 and a fifty-two week high of $260.96.

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

Assurant Announces Dividend

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

About Assurant

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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