Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Short Interest Down 7.7% in October

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 697,100 shares, a decline of 7.7% from the October 15th total of 755,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 335,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AIZ shares. UBS Group increased 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. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Assurant from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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. Three equities 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.20.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of Assurant stock traded up $1.78 on Monday, hitting $220.60. 157,368 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 348,255. Assurant has a 1-year low of $160.12 and a 1-year high of $220.75. 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 market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $197.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.83.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 6.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assurant will post 15.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant 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 in the company, valued at $4,321,240.44. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its position in Assurant by 0.5% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 829 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Assurant by 62.1% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Assurant by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company's stock.

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.