Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys Shares of 287,238 Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon purchased 287,238 Assured Guaranty shares worth approximately $23 million, acquiring a 0.65% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 92.22% of the company.
• Assured Guaranty reported quarterly EPS of $1.23 on $195 million in revenue, while shares recently opened at $75.55. Analysts expect full-year EPS of $6.91.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, equivalent to $1.52 annually and a 2.0% yield. Analyst sentiment remains “Hold,” with a consensus price target of $90.33.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 287,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $23,025,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.65% of Assured Guaranty at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth $51,538,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 176.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 366,644 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,935,000 after acquiring an additional 233,966 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 261.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,830,000 after purchasing an additional 230,920 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 60.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 481,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,957,000 after acquiring an additional 182,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,262,698 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,480,000 after purchasing an additional 132,351 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $75.55 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.76 and a 12-month high of $92.39. The business's 50 day moving average is $80.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.86. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 0.75.

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. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%.The business had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AGO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Roth Capital lowered Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.33.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 209,388 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,212,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This represents a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 5.70% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty 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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