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

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,090,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the June 30th total of 1,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 349,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Assurant Stock Performance

NYSE AIZ opened at $175.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $168.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.38. Assurant has a 1 year low of $133.13 and a 1 year high of $189.48. The firm has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.54.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $4.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.91. Assurant had a net margin of 6.73% and a return on equity of 20.08%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Assurant will post 16.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael P. Campbell sold 1,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.35, for a total value of $226,048.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,261,983.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Michael P. Campbell sold 1,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.35, for a total transaction of $226,048.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,261,983.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Lonergan sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.12, for a total value of $475,524.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,484,710.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,788 shares of company stock worth $2,248,489. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assurant by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Assurant by 6.8% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 153,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,457,000 after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Assurant in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Assurant by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after acquiring an additional 5,763 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Assurant by 97.7% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AIZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Assurant from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Assurant in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Assurant from $223.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.60.

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.