Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO Shares Acquired by Amundi

Key Points

• Amundi increased its Assured Guaranty stake by 37.8% in the second quarter to 77,873 shares valued at approximately $6.24 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.22% of AGO, with several other funds also initiating or expanding positions.
• Assured Guaranty reported quarterly earnings of $1.23 per share on $195 million in revenue, while analysts project $6.91 in full-year EPS. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, yielding about 2.1% annually.
• AGO shares opened at $72.98, near their 12-month low of $72.13, and analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $90.33 target price. Recent recommendations ranged from UBS’s “Buy” upgrade to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ “Outperform” rating.

Amundi boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 37.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 21,363 shares during the period. Amundi owned 0.18% of Assured Guaranty worth $6,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter worth about $23,025,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,538,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,262,698 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,480,000 after buying an additional 132,351 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 55.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 40,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,299,000 after buying an additional 14,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth approximately $3,080,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

NYSE AGO opened at $72.98 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $72.13 and a 12 month high of $92.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 0.73. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $79.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%.The firm had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,096,591.98. The trade was a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Assured Guaranty from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.33.

Assured Guaranty Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd. NYSE: AGO is a Bermuda-based financial services company that provides financial guarantees and related credit enhancement products. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps support the repayment of debt issued by public-sector entities, infrastructure projects and other borrowers.

The company's principal business is financial guaranty insurance, which generally protects investors against scheduled principal and interest payment defaults on insured obligations.

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