Norges Bank Takes $51.54 Million Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 573,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $51,538,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 156.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 49,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,743,000 after purchasing an additional 30,208 shares in the last quarter. IMC Chicago LLC bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter valued at $1,446,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 7.5% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 193,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,392,000 after buying an additional 13,575 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 8.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,145,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,929,000 after buying an additional 92,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 12.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,333,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $112,840,000 after acquiring an additional 144,841 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total transaction of $77,813.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,696.24. The trade was a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 242,718 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,002,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,787,188.96. The trade was a 31.94% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 224,797 shares of company stock valued at $17,999,537. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO opened at $75.62 on Monday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.76 and a 12-month high of $92.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.53. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The company’s revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.18 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Mkm cut Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.33.

Assured Guaranty Profile

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.