Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) Major Shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured Purchases 209,388 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 AGO shares at an average price of $24.83, investing roughly $5.2 million and increasing its stake by 20.88% to 1.21 million shares.
• Assured Guaranty reported quarterly EPS of $2.50, beating estimates of $1.50, while revenue of $261 million exceeded forecasts but declined 24.3% year over year.
• The stock traded at $84.78, and analysts maintained a generally positive outlook with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $91.67; the company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.38.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 209,388 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at $30,096,591.98. This represents a 20.88% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Guaranty Ltd Assured also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, April 30th, Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 242,718 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of AGO traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $84.78. The stock had a trading volume of 55,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 347,519. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company's fifty day moving average is $79.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.17. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $72.76 and a 52 week high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The firm had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.18 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is presently 17.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Roth Capital cut Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Assured Guaranty from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $91.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company's primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.

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