UPDATE 1-Assurant posts 3rd-quarter profit

* Q3 net EPS of $1.22

* Operating EPS beats Wall St view

NEW YORK Oct 28 (Reuters) - U.S. specialty insurer Assurant Inc (AIZ.N) posted a quarterly profit on Wednesday, compared with a year-ago loss, helped by higher revenue and an absence of payouts linked to U.S. hurricanes.

The New York-based provider of specialty home, credit and health insurance reported third quarter net income of $144.7 million, or $1.22 a share, compared with a net loss of $111.4 million, or 94 cents a share, a year earlier.

In the year-ago quarter, Assurant was hit by $194.5 million in net realized investment losses from the financial crisis, and $86.2 million in losses from hurricanes Ike and Gustav.

The company said its property division had no reportable catastrophe losses in the latest quarter.

Operating income was $126.2 million, or $1.07 a share, compared with $83.1 million, or 70 cents per share, last year. Analysts on average expected Assurant to earn 94 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Total revenue rose 10 percent to $2.15 billion in the quarter.

Assurant shares, which fell 2.5 percent in the regular session on Wednesday to $29.34, were unchanged in after-hours trade following the results. The stock has traded in a range between $12.52 and $36.57 in the past 52 weeks, according to Reuters data. (Reporting by Lilla Zuill; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)