Fmr LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Fmr LLC reduced its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 27.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,515 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $6,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 66.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 155.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $90.70 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $71.11 and a 52 week high of $96.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.63. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The firm had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AGO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.10% 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.