River Road Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,885,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,311 shares during the period. Assured Guaranty comprises approximately 1.9% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 4.09% of Assured Guaranty worth $169,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $44,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $68,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 99.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $76.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.69 and its 200 day moving average is $83.67. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.76 and a twelve month 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.

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

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Roth Mkm 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 note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.33.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total value of $3,931,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,146,453.62. This represents a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 242,718 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,002,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,787,188.96. This represents a 31.94% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 204,795 shares of company stock worth $16,378,175 over the last 90 days. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.