Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases Shares of 27,755 Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia acquired 27,755 Assured Guaranty shares worth approximately $2.23 million, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.22% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans toward Hold: two analysts rate AGO a Buy and three rate it Hold, with a consensus price target of $90.33.
• Assured Guaranty reported quarterly EPS of $1.23 on $195 million in revenue and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, representing a 2.0% annualized yield.

Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 27,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,225,000. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 0.06% of Assured Guaranty at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AGO. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, 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 during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group raised 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. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.33.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In related news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at $691,696.24. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 209,388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 20.88% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:AGO opened at $76.11 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.75. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.76 and a 12-month high of $92.39. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $80.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.02.

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 (EPS) for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%.The company had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter. Equities analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

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

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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