GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 745 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 82.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 662,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,101,000 after acquiring an additional 299,658 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth about $25,554,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 37.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 678,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,322,000 after acquiring an additional 184,621 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 293.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 126,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,773,000 after acquiring an additional 94,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,990.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 60,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,308,000 after acquiring an additional 57,928 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.0 %

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $83.95 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $59.01 and a twelve month high of $96.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.48 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 (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 61.17% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The firm had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 43.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 9.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AGO shares. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $102.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th.

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.