Oak Thistle LLC Invests $1.31 Million in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 14,970 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,306,000. Assured Guaranty comprises 1.2% of Oak Thistle LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth about $327,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 59,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,621,000 after acquiring an additional 25,204 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 63.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 406,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $24,631,000 after buying an additional 158,638 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 19,713 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,193,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 1.4 %

AGO traded up $1.09 on Monday, reaching $78.24. 516,277 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 408,485. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $54.30 and a one year high of $96.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.48. The company has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.55. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 57.45% and a return on equity of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $245.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is currently 9.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.94, for a total value of $2,398,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 304,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,368,509.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 3,901 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total value of $311,806.93. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 16,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,281,757.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.94, for a total transaction of $2,398,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 304,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,368,509.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 73,901 shares of company stock worth $5,834,807. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st.

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.

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