Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Short Interest Up 14.1% in October

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 935,600 shares, a growth of 14.1% from the September 30th total of 820,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 357,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Assured Guaranty from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $92.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO traded up $0.23 on Tuesday, hitting $84.99. 197,323 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 384,950. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty has a one year low of $60.82 and a one year high of $96.60. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $80.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.90. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 1.11.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 61.17%. The business had revenue of $202.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The company's revenue was down 43.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 6.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of Assured Guaranty 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Assured Guaranty

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 183.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 155.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 55.7% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.

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