Intech Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 418.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 49,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,325 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $3,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position 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 worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 183.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AGO shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on 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 raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $93.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.23 and a beta of 1.10. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $67.25 and a 12 month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.63%.

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.