Taika Capital LP Invests $360,000 in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Taika Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Assurant by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $708,016,000 after purchasing an additional 891,292 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Assurant by 11,480.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 464,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,460,000 after purchasing an additional 460,937 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,430,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Assurant in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,630,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Assurant by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,764,000 after purchasing an additional 87,323 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AIZ shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assurant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Assurant in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.17.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $204.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $208.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.73.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Assurant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.11%.

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.