Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Short Interest Down 9.4% in December

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 698,300 shares, a drop of 9.4% from the November 30th total of 770,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 357,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.18, for a total value of $627,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,321,240.44. This trade represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Assurant in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 509.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 62.1% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Assurant during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.50.

Assurant Price Performance

AIZ traded up $0.95 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $213.22. 234,106 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 351,426. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $193.49. Assurant has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Assurant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Assurant’s payout ratio is presently 22.82%.

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.