Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Short Interest Up 5.6% in November

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 943,800 shares, a growth of 5.6% from the November 15th total of 893,700 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 328,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AGO opened at $90.05 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty has a 52-week low of $71.11 and a 52-week high of $96.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.96 and a 200-day moving average of $81.81.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The firm had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Assured Guaranty will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.