Millennium Management LLC Buys 94,486 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 293.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 126,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,486 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.23% of Assured Guaranty worth $9,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 55.7% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 535.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,593.05. 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $81.60 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.30 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $59.01 and a 52 week high of $96.60.

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

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.58%.

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.