Sanctuary Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 44,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,457,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 3.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 5.7% during the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 2,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter worth about $378,000. 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 Assured Guaranty 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $87.70 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.49 and a 1 year high of $96.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $88.48 and its 200 day moving average is $82.10. The stock has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business’s revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 9.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Assured Guaranty 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.