8,706 Shares in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO Bought by PEAK6 LLC

PEAK6 LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 8,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 633.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 209,388 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total transaction of $77,813.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,696.24. The trade was a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on AGO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Roth Capital lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.33.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of AGO opened at $74.31 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $80.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.75. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.76 and a 12-month high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 37.34% and a return on equity of 7.11%. Equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company’s primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.