Summit Global Investments Grows Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Summit Global Investments boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 417.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,010 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth $68,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 99.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.9%

AGO stock opened at $84.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.72 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.48 and a 200-day moving average of $82.30. 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 Ltd. has a one year low of $72.76 and a one year high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The business’s revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured acquired 242,718 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,002,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,787,188.96. The trade was a 31.94% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total value of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,146,453.62. The trade was a 16.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Roth Capital downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.67.

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.