Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 13,575 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 193,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,575 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.41% of Assured Guaranty worth $16,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 37.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $86.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.24. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $74.09 and a 1 year high of $93.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AGO. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $65,282.22. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,269,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,409,263.90. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 10,803 shares of company stock worth $156,663 in the last ninety days. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty 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.