Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 837,500 shares, a decrease of 14.5% from the May 15th total of 979,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 438,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

In other news, CAO Francesca Luthi sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.81, for a total value of $727,240.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Lonergan sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.19, for a total transaction of $403,018.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,095,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $482,538,000 after acquiring an additional 28,862 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,103,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $382,503,000 after acquiring an additional 142,243 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 53.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,622,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,111,000 after acquiring an additional 566,763 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,158,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,498,000 after acquiring an additional 28,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,123,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,749,000 after acquiring an additional 4,524 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.36% of the company’s stock.

Assurant stock traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $170.31. 6,016 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 517,792. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Assurant has a 12 month low of $144.18 and a 12 month high of $194.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.39, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.56.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.89. Assurant had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Assurant will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 27th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Assurant’s payout ratio is 11.89%.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AIZ shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $210.00 to $220.00 in a report on Friday, March 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assurant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Assurant from $197.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $193.48.

Assurant Company Profile (Get Rating)

Assurant, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides lifestyle and housing solutions that support, protect, and connect 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 products and related services for mobile devices, consumer electronics, and appliances; vehicle protection and related services; and credit protection and other insurance products.

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