Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Major Shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured Acquires 209,388 Shares of Stock

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 209,388 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This represents a 20.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Guaranty Ltd Assured also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, April 30th, Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 242,718 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $24.72 per share, for a total transaction of $5,999,988.96.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of AGO traded down $0.52 on Tuesday, hitting $84.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 55,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 347,519. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.17. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.76 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 0.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The business’s revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. Roth Capital cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.67.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after purchasing an additional 22,486 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 7.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,024,000 after buying an additional 16,235 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 8.9% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 99.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

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.