BNP Paribas Financial Markets Increases Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 65.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 142,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,153 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $12,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,080.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 99.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings cut Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Roth Mkm downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.33.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.1%

AGO stock opened at $75.62 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.57 and a 200-day moving average of $84.53. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.76 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The company’s revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,696.24. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $2,442,137.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,264,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,926,255.95. This represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 224,797 shares of company stock worth $17,999,537 in the last 90 days. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.