Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 24.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 37,530 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Assured Guaranty worth $9,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 1.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 2,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew 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 worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO stock opened at $91.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.13 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $86.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.06. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $67.27 and a 1 year high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. Assured Guaranty’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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