Short Interest in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Rises By 10.1%

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 744,900 shares, an increase of 10.1% from the March 15th total of 676,600 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 369,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Assurant Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE AIZ traded down $1.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $172.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 251,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,887. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $178.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.50. Assurant has a 1-year low of $115.41 and a 1-year high of $189.48.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $4.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.88. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.78 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 18.36%. On average, research analysts forecast that Assurant will post 15.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 5th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Assurant from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Assurant from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.20.

Institutional Trading of Assurant

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIZ. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 31.1% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $916,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the first quarter worth $789,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 14.8% in the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 20,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,924,000 after buying an additional 2,687 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant in the first quarter worth $81,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 3.0% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 249,152 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,900,000 after buying an additional 7,150 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assurant Company Profile

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.