Bank of America Corp DE Raises Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Bank of America increased its Assured Guaranty stake by 33.3% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 359,800 shares worth approximately $29.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.22% of AGO.
• Assured Guaranty reported quarterly earnings of $1.23 per share on $195 million in revenue and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38, equivalent to a 2.0% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with AGO carrying an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $90.33 versus its recent price of $76.68.

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 33.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 359,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 89,979 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.81% of Assured Guaranty worth $29,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,441 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prelude Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 6.3% during the third quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $76.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.76 and a 1 year high of $92.39. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 0.75. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $80.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.61.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share 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 expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,307 shares of the company's stock, valued at $691,696.24. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 209,388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 5.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AGO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Roth Capital cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.33.

About Assured Guaranty

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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