Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Short Interest Up 5.8% in February

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ – Get Rating) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,100,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the February 13th total of 1,040,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 420,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Assurant from $215.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 21st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Assurant in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $133.00 price target on shares of Assurant in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.75.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of Assurant stock opened at $104.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $127.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.40. Assurant has a 52 week low of $104.49 and a 52 week high of $194.12.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 27th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 24th. Assurant’s payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assurant news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.68, for a total transaction of $69,132.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $774,410.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assurant

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Assurant by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Assurant during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $350,000. Texas Permanent School Fund raised its position in Assurant by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 7,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Assurant by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Credit Suisse AG raised its position in Assurant by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 133,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,459,000 after buying an additional 6,786 shares during the last quarter. 95.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Assurant

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Assurant, Inc engages in the provision of lifestyle and housing solutions of consumer purchases. It operates through Global Lifestyle and Global Housing segments. 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.