Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes $1.41 Million Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 18,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,413,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 82.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 662,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,101,000 after acquiring an additional 299,658 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter worth about $25,554,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 678,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,322,000 after purchasing an additional 184,621 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 293.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 126,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,773,000 after buying an additional 94,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,990.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 60,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,308,000 after buying an additional 57,928 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of AGO stock opened at $82.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.97. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $59.01 and a one year high of $96.60.

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

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

About Assured Guaranty

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.