Quantinno Capital Management LP Buys 11,940 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 61.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,327 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,940 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned 0.06% of Assured Guaranty worth $2,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AGO. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 13.2% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 981,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,020,000 after purchasing an additional 114,308 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 977,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $77,751,000 after purchasing an additional 71,114 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 926,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 678,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $52,322,000 after purchasing an additional 184,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,026,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 1.5 %

AGO traded up $1.33 on Wednesday, reaching $89.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 75,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 372,041. 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 1 year low of $71.04 and a 1 year high of $96.60. The business's 50 day moving average is $87.42 and its 200 day moving average is $81.50. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.86 and a beta of 1.11.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $202.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

About Assured Guaranty

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.