Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 66.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $39,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AGO. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 39.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 261.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 40,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,513,000 after acquiring an additional 29,121 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter valued at $452,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $861,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of AGO opened at $91.93 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $65.39 and a 52 week high of $96.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.13 and a 200-day moving average of $79.78. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.