ARGA Investment Management LP Increases Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 34.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,765 shares during the quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. River Road Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,026,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 434,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,525,000 after buying an additional 146,107 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 112.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 216,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,249,000 after acquiring an additional 115,012 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 13.2% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 981,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,020,000 after acquiring an additional 114,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 293.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 126,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,773,000 after acquiring an additional 94,486 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE AGO opened at $92.44 on Wednesday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $72.57 and a 52 week high of $96.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $90.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.05.

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

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

About Assured Guaranty

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.