Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 912,500 shares, a growth of 30.9% from the October 31st total of 697,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 363,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total transaction of $627,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Assurant by 509.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AIZ. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler increased 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Assurant Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $227.10 on Monday. Assurant has a 12-month low of $160.12 and a 12-month high of $230.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $203.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.57.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. Assurant’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.29 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Assurant will post 15.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.54%.

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.