Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 116,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 37,530 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 0.23% of Assured Guaranty worth $9,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 80.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,970 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 4,447 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 247.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 18,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,499,000 after buying an additional 13,422 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $281,000. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.
Assured Guaranty Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE AGO traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $91.71. 163,724 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 375,177. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.06. The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $67.27 and a 52 week high of $96.60.
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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The company had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.63%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have recently commented on AGO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.
View Our Latest Research Report on AGO
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.
About Assured Guaranty
(
Free Report)
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.
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