Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Short Interest Up 25.6% in January

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 828,735 shares, a growth of 25.6% from the December 31st total of 660,030 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 329,689 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Based on an average daily volume of 329,689 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,775,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,338,041,000 after purchasing an additional 88,749 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Assurant by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,010,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,247,000 after buying an additional 959,259 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Assurant by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,245,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,879,000 after buying an additional 53,773 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Assurant by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 862,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $186,808,000 after buying an additional 113,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 665,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,588,000 after acquiring an additional 150,907 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AIZ. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $252.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Assurant from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Truist Financial set a $255.00 price target on Assurant in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Assurant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assurant in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Assurant has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.67.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIZ traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $241.04. The stock had a trading volume of 335,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 307,253. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. Assurant has a 1-year low of $174.97 and a 1-year high of $244.83.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $5.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $1.50. Assurant had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 6.75%.The business had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Assurant’s payout ratio is 21.42%.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.

Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.