Point72 Asset Management L.P. Takes Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $151,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AGO. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 82.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 662,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,101,000 after purchasing an additional 299,658 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter worth $25,554,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 37.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 678,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,322,000 after acquiring an additional 184,621 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 293.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 126,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,773,000 after acquiring an additional 94,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,990.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 60,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 57,928 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Assured Guaranty from $102.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $87.00 to $92.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $82.82 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $58.57 and a fifty-two week high of $96.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 1.10.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $202.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.05 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 61.17%. The firm’s revenue was down 43.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.58%.

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.