VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems acquired 35,150 Assured Guaranty shares worth approximately $2.8 million, while institutional investors collectively own 92.22% of AGO.
• Assured Guaranty reported quarterly earnings of $1.23 per share on $195 million in revenue. Analysts forecast full-year earnings of $6.91 per share.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.38, equivalent to $1.52 annually and a 2.1% yield. Analysts have an overall “Hold” rating, with an average price target of $90.33.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 35,150 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,818,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned 0.08% of Assured Guaranty as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Prelude Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of AGO opened at $73.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $72.13 and a one year high of $92.39. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $79.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.07.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Assured Guaranty from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, May 18th. Two research 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.33.

Insider Activity

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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