Dockside LLC Acquires New Stake in Assurant, Inc. $AIZ

Dockside LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 36,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,901,000. Assurant comprises about 2.3% of Dockside LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Assurant in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in Assurant in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Assurant by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA purchased a new position in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its position in Assurant by 205.5% in the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on Assurant from $270.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Assurant from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Assurant from $268.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Assurant has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.83.

Assurant Price Performance

Assurant stock opened at $260.67 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a one year low of $183.39 and a one year high of $261.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $240.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $232.94. The company has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.29 by $0.66. The company 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%.Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Assurant’s payout ratio is 18.01%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other news, EVP Subhashish Sengupta sold 1,880 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $395,796.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,484.35. The trade was a 39.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.77, for a total value of $503,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,650 shares of company stock worth $7,930,981. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.