Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 4,735 Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC invested approximately $417,000 in Assured Guaranty Ltd., acquiring 4,735 shares of the company.
• Assured Guaranty recently reported earnings that missed analysts' expectations, with earnings per share of $1.01, falling short of the $1.57 consensus estimate.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.7%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 20th.

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 4,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,781 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the first quarter worth $203,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the first quarter worth $205,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 479.3% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 41,032 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,607,000 after acquiring an additional 33,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AGO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Assured Guaranty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Assured Guaranty to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.50.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total transaction of $3,260,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 291,728 shares in the company, valued at $23,778,749.28. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of AGO traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $82.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 383,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,978. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $74.09 and a 12-month high of $96.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company's 50 day moving average is $83.25 and its 200 day moving average is $84.82.

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

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.03%.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.