Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO Shares Bought by Long Focus Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Long Focus Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. by 1.8%, owning approximately $24.67 million worth of shares, making it the 27th largest position in their portfolio.
• Assured Guaranty reported earnings per share of $1.01 for the latest quarter, falling short of the consensus estimate of $1.57, although revenue increased by 39.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, which will be paid on September 3rd, representing a 1.7% dividend yield.

Long Focus Capital Management LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 280,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Assured Guaranty comprises about 0.8% of Long Focus Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Long Focus Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.56% of Assured Guaranty worth $24,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,215 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the first quarter valued at approximately $417,000. State of Wyoming raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 583.3% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 6.1% in the first quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,781 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the first quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of AGO stock traded up $0.52 on Wednesday, reaching $81.73. 347,988 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 331,744. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business's 50 day moving average price is $83.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.56). The firm had revenue of $281.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.91 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 44.53%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total value of $3,260,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 291,728 shares in the company, valued at $23,778,749.28. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AGO. Zacks Research raised Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Assured Guaranty from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.50.

Assured Guaranty Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The company offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.