Sei Investments Co. Purchases 42,672 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 106.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 42,672 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.15% of Assured Guaranty worth $6,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 2,917 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,732,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock traded down $0.52 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 332,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 395,403. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $58.27 and a 52-week high of $96.60. The company has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's 50-day moving average is $78.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $193.05 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 61.17% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The firm's revenue was down 43.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is currently 9.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AGO. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $102.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were 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 approximately $110,423,321.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.