Barclays PLC Has $1.98 Million Stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 214.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,956 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 1.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 2,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 1.6% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO opened at $89.64 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $88.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.37. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.57 and a 1 year high of $96.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 9.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AGO shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

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.