Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 401 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 183.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE:AGO opened at $90.62 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $90.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.12. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.57 and a 12-month high of $96.60. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The company’s revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 9.63%.

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.