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Assurant (AIZ) to Report Q4 Earnings: Here's What to Expect

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Assurant, Inc. (AIZ - Free Report) is slated to report fourth-quarter 2023 earnings on Feb 6, after the closing bell. AIZ delivered an earnings surprise in each of the last four quarters, the average beat being 42.38%.

Factors to Note

Revenues are likely to have benefited from improved net earned premiums and higher net investment income. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter revenues is pegged at $2.78 billion, suggesting growth of 4.3% from the year-ago quarter’s levels.

Net earned premiums are expected to have benefited from higher premiums in the Global Housing and Global Lifestyle segments.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter net earned premiums, fees and other income is pegged at $2.3 billion. We expect net earned premiums to increase 1.8% to $2.3 billion in the to-be-reported quarter. We expect fees and other income to decrease 4.4% to $287.9 million in the to-be-reported quarter.

Net investment income is likely to have benefited from higher yields on fixed-maturity securities, short-term investments, and cash and cash equivalents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter net investment income is pegged at $126 million, suggesting an improvement of 23.5% from the year-ago reported number. We expect net investment income to increase 20.5% to $123.2 million in the to-be-reported quarter.

Global Housing is likely to have gained from lower non-catastrophe loss experience, a decrease in reportable catastrophes, higher net earned premiums and expense leverage within Homeowners, a rise in lender-placed policies in force, improved average insured values and premium rates to address increased claims severity. The increase was also driven by the absence of catastrophe reinstatement premiums.

Global Lifestyle is expected to have benefited from higher net investment income across the segment, stronger mobile device protection results from carrier and cable operator clients and improved trade-in margins in North America, as well as contributions from financial services and other, within Connected Living. Continued organic growth from prior period sales in U.S. Global Automotive business across all distribution channels, is likely to add to the upside. The uptick is likely to be partially offset by ongoing elevated claims costs in Global Automotive and unfavorable loss experience in selected ancillary products.

Total benefits, losses and expenses might have escalated because of higher policyholder benefits, underwriting, and selling, general and administrative expenses. We expect total expenses to decrease 4.5% to $2.4 billion.
Continued share buybacks are likely to have aided the bottom line in the to-be-reported quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at $3.70 per share, which suggests an increase of 14.5% from the prior-year reported figure.

What Our Quantitative Model Unveils

Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for Assurant this time around. This is because a stock needs to have the right combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) that increases the odds of an earnings beat. This is not the case here, as you can see below.

Earnings ESP: Assurant has an Earnings ESP of -4.70%. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate of $3.53 is pegged lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.70. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Assurant, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Assurant, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Assurant, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Assurant, Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank: Assurant has a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

Stocks to Consider

Some insurance stocks with the right combination of elements to deliver an earnings beat this time around are:

Everest Group, Ltd. (EG - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.18% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2023 earnings is pegged at $14.63, indicating an increase of 19.8% from the year-ago reported figure. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

EG’s earnings beat estimates in three of the last four quarters while missing in one.

Arch Capital Group (ACGL - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.24% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2023 earnings is pegged at $1.94, implying a decline of 9.3% from the year-ago reported figure.

ACGL’s earnings beat estimates in each of the last four reported quarters.

Primerica, Inc. (PRI - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.44% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2023 earnings is pegged at $4.26, indicating an increase of 22.06% from the year-ago reported figure.

PRI’s earnings beat estimates in each of the last four reported quarters.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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