Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Short Interest Update

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 709,200 shares, a decline of 6.7% from the September 15th total of 759,900 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 340,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.60.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total value of $103,642.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,152 shares in the company, valued at $593,962.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total transaction of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $593,962.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares in the company, valued at $717,329.51. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Assurant in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Assurant by 62.1% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Assurant during the second quarter worth $51,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Assurant by 40.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Assurant by 35.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Assurant stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Thursday, reaching $196.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 347,647. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.57. Assurant has a 52 week low of $144.61 and a 52 week high of $201.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $192.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.13.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.50. Assurant had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Assurant will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Assurant’s payout ratio is 20.10%.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services.