Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,409 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $748,000.
A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 981,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,020,000 after buying an additional 114,308 shares during the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 7.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $73,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 37.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 184,621 shares during the period. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,026,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms recently issued reports on AGO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AGO
Assured Guaranty Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE AGO traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $89.72. 220,759 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 373,692. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.31. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $70.59 and a 1-year high of $96.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 1.11.
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 the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The firm had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.57 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.63%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty
In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Assured Guaranty Company Profile
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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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