BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $12.80 Million Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 65.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 142,403 shares valued at about $12.8 million.
• Assured Guaranty reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $2.50 per share on revenue of $261 million, beating analyst estimates, though revenue fell 24.3% from a year earlier.
• The stock has a Hold consensus rating from analysts, with an average price target of $92.33, while the company also recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, or $1.52 annually.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 65.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,403 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 56,153 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.31% of Assured Guaranty worth $12,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 156.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 49,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,743,000 after acquiring an additional 30,208 shares during the period. IMC Chicago LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth $1,446,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.5% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 193,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,392,000 after purchasing an additional 13,575 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,145,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $96,929,000 after purchasing an additional 92,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 12.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,333,024 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $112,840,000 after purchasing an additional 144,841 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered Assured Guaranty from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Mkm cut Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.33.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.1%

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $75.62 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $79.57 and its 200 day moving average is $84.53. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 0.76.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 242,718 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,002,718 shares in the company, valued at $24,787,188.96. This trade represents a 31.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at $20,146,453.62. This represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 224,797 shares of company stock worth $17,999,537 over the last quarter. Corporate 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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