Jupiter Topco LLC Buys New Stake in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 22,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,997,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 606.7% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 290,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,987,000 after buying an additional 47,548 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Assurant by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Assurant by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ stock opened at $282.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.01 and a 52-week high of $303.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $279.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.70. The company has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 0.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.24. The company had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 20.40% and a net margin of 7.90%.Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.56 EPS. Analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 22.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.71, for a total transaction of $1,838,970.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 27,374 shares in the company, valued at $7,191,423.54. This represents a 20.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nair Biju sold 3,931 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,333,747.62. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Assurant from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.14.

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.