Short Interest in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Declines By 12.5%

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) was the target of a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 927,400 shares, a drop of 12.5% from the January 31st total of 1,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 393,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Assurant in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assurant currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Assurant by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $708,016,000 after acquiring an additional 891,292 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,399,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,724,000 after acquiring an additional 10,956 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Assurant by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,163,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,392,000 after buying an additional 65,874 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 831,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,370,000 after buying an additional 156,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Assurant in the fourth quarter worth $143,475,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Assurant Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AIZ traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $202.09. 76,444 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 342,587. The firm has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 0.62. Assurant has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

Assurant Company Profile

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.