Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Short Interest Update

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 755,500 shares, an increase of 6.5% from the September 30th total of 709,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 333,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company's shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Assurant from $186.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Assurant from $228.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Assurant from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assurant presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $717,329.51. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Assurant news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.44, for a total transaction of $103,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,152 shares in the company, valued at $593,962.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Jenns sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.13, for a total value of $267,195.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $717,329.51. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AIZ. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Assurant by 32.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,678 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $173,179,000 after acquiring an additional 255,471 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Assurant in the third quarter valued at about $284,730,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Assurant by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 566,123 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $94,118,000 after buying an additional 96,021 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Assurant by 151.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 143,425 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,998,000 after acquiring an additional 86,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Assurant by 31.9% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 239,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,101,000 after acquiring an additional 57,990 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assurant Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE:AIZ traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $191.76. 244,370 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 344,418. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $194.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.21. Assurant has a 1 year low of $158.29 and a 1 year high of $201.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 19.63% and a net margin of 6.90%. The firm's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Assurant will post 14.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Assurant's dividend payout ratio is 19.19%.

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.