Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Purchased by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 434,173 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 146,107 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.82% of Assured Guaranty worth $34,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth about $277,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 112.6% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 174,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,872,000 after purchasing an additional 92,408 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 418.0% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 49,971 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 40,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AGO stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $93.28. 124,634 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 378,091. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $67.25 and a fifty-two week high of $96.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The firm had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is 9.63%.

Assured Guaranty Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The company offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.