Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Short Interest Up 19.4% in December

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 834,000 shares, a growth of 19.4% from the December 15th total of 698,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 348,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Assurant Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE AIZ traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $211.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 345,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,810. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Assurant has a twelve month low of $160.12 and a twelve month high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assurant by 62.1% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Assurant by 509.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Assurant during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.50.

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.