Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

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

Assurant Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $198.21 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.27. Assurant has a 1 year low of $144.61 and a 1 year high of $201.55. The company has a market capitalization of $10.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

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

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 20.10%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Assurant by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,179,000 after buying an additional 255,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Assurant by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,159,000 after buying an additional 12,935 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Assurant by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 566,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,118,000 after buying an additional 96,021 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 383,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,765,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Assurant by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 255,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,089,000 after buying an additional 19,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.