Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Purchased by Amundi

Amundi boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 646.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 74,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 64,290 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $6,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 6.5% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 4.4% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 25,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5.3% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth about $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $86.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.57 and a 12-month high of $96.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $90.25 and a 200 day moving average of $87.22.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.07). Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The company had revenue of $199.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.56 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of 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 raised their target price on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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.