Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Short Interest Up 19.2% in February

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,203,675 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the February 12th total of 1,010,185 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 276,535 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Based on an average daily volume of 276,535 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

NYSE AGO traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $83.56. The company had a trading volume of 329,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,980. The business has a 50 day moving average of $86.08 and a 200-day moving average of $85.75. The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 8.16 and a beta of 0.90. Assured Guaranty has a 1-year low of $74.09 and a 1-year high of $92.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.78. The business had revenue of $277.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.83 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 45.31%.The business’s revenue was up 77.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Assured Guaranty will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $106,223.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $723,000.58. The trade was a 12.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $65,282.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,269,690 shares in the company, valued at $75,409,263.90. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,920 shares of company stock valued at $261,214. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AGO. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AGO. UBS Group raised their target price on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.00.

About Assured Guaranty

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.