Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Short Interest Up 14.1% in October

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 935,600 shares, a growth of 14.1% from the September 30th total of 820,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 357,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO traded up $0.23 on Tuesday, hitting $84.99. 197,323 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 384,950. Assured Guaranty has a fifty-two week low of $60.82 and a fifty-two week high of $96.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average is $80.81 and its 200 day moving average is $78.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 61.17% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The company had revenue of $202.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 43.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 6.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AGO. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Assured Guaranty news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at $110,423,321.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,593.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 14.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5.7% in the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 2,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Company 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.