Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,212,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This represents a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.
Guaranty Ltd Assured also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Thursday, April 30th, Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 242,718 shares of Assured Guaranty stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.72 per share, for a total transaction of $5,999,988.96.
Assured Guaranty Stock Performance
NYSE AGO opened at $85.31 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $79.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.76 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39.
Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The company had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $208.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.18 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.45%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty
Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth $68,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts have commented on AGO shares. 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 research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Roth Capital lowered shares of Assured Guaranty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Assured Guaranty from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.67.
View Our Latest Report on AGO
About Assured Guaranty
(
Get Free Report)
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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