Man Group plc Acquires New Shares in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Man Group plc acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 167,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,439,000. Man Group plc owned 0.38% of Assured Guaranty as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at $463,926,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,538,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $23,025,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 176.3% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 366,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,935,000 after buying an additional 233,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 261.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,830,000 after buying an additional 230,920 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Roth Capital lowered Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.33.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 209,388 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at $30,096,591.98. The trade was a 20.88% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO stock opened at $75.94 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 0.75. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.76 and a 1 year high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 37.34% and a return on equity of 7.11%. The firm had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.