Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Major Shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured Purchases 209,388 Shares

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 209,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock 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 bought 242,718 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.72 per share, for a total transaction of $5,999,988.96.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $85.31 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $72.76 and a 52 week high of $92.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $79.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.Assured Guaranty’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AGO. Weiss Ratings upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Roth Capital lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.67.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 309.2% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at about $68,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.