On Dec 29, 2014, shares of Assurant Inc. (AIZ) scaled a new 52-week high of $69.88 following a series of encouraging news at the company.
Last month, Assurant Solutions inked a deal with Claro, a part of the largest Latin American telecom group América Móvil, to roll out a new program in Brazil named Claro Up. This program will allow customers to buy the recently released smartphones through monthly installment solutions and also upgrade them annually.
Moreover, Assurant’s alliance with Claro will also provide insurance against qualified theft and damage in the phones from accidents. This deal makes way for more revenue generation for Assurant thereby spurring optimism among investors.
The same month, Assurant Solutions unveiled its Connected Living division to provide uninterrupted protection and technical support to the connected consumers by integrating its mobile and extended warranty programs divisions. In fact, over the long term, growth is expected from the company’s mobile business.
Moreover, Assurant and its subsidiaries’ financial strength ratings (“FSR”) and Issuer credit ratings (“ICR”) were affirmed by the credit rating giant, A. M. Best Co. based on the diverse business mix, foothold in various niche markets, robust operating results and risk-adjusted capitalization.
Earlier, the company’s reported third-quarter earnings had surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate and also improved year over year. This improvement was mainly driven by strong performance of the Assurant Solutions and Employee Benefits segments. Moreover, Assurant’s one-year return of 4.71% was higher than that of other industry players like CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO), Unum Group (UNM) and MetLife, Inc. (MET) who recorded returns of -1.17%, 1.08% and 1.72%, respectively.
Assurant currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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