Yukiko Omura Sells 3,599 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Stock

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE AGO traded up $0.01 during trading on Monday, reaching $79.52. 299,691 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 395,738. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.46. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $58.27 and a 12-month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 43.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. 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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 24.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $151,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

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.