Bank of America Corp DE Buys New Stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 375,596 Assured Guaranty shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $30.1 million and representing about 0.85% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 92.22% of AGO.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with AGO carrying an average “Hold” rating and an average price target of $89.33; Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered its target to $97, while UBS set a $91 target.
• Assured Guaranty reported quarterly EPS of $1.23 on $195 million in revenue and maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.38, equivalent to a 2.1% annualized yield.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 375,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $30,108,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.85% of Assured Guaranty as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AGO. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $836,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.33.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $70.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $77.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $69.96 and a twelve month high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%. Sell-side analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

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

About Assured Guaranty

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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