Vest Financial LLC Buys 11,277 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,277 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $5,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 37.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 3,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.72, for a total value of $55,671.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,276,372 shares in the company, valued at $77,668,195.84. This trade represents a 0.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,437 shares of company stock valued at $129,237. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 1.0%

AGO stock opened at $84.87 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.02. The company has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $74.09 and a 52 week high of $96.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $1.03. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.65% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The business had revenue of $207.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.76 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is 16.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on AGO shares. Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Zacks Research raised Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.00.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company’s primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events.

In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects.