Strs Ohio Takes $4.78 Million Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has made a new investment of approximately $4.78 million in Assured Guaranty Ltd., purchasing 54,201 shares in the first quarter, which represents about 0.11% ownership of the company.
• Assured Guaranty reported earnings per share of $1.01 for the last quarter, falling short of analyst expectations of $1.57, although its revenue increased by 39.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, with a 1.6% yield, indicating a payout ratio of 15.03%.

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 54,201 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,775,000. Strs Ohio owned 0.11% of Assured Guaranty at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth about $293,632,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8,932.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 240,161 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $211,580,000 after acquiring an additional 237,502 shares during the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.8% during the first quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,134,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $99,977,000 after acquiring an additional 129,026 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.1% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,012,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $89,206,000 after acquiring an additional 109,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth about $5,920,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total transaction of $3,260,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 291,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,778,749.28. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.7%

Assured Guaranty stock traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $83.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,072,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 292,694. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month high of $96.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.34.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $281.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.91 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 44.53% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is 15.03%.

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.