Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $7.84 Million Investment in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 97,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,838,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.22% of Assured Guaranty at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AGO. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 4.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 6.3% during the third quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Assured Guaranty by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.3%

AGO stock opened at $74.50 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $80.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 0.73. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 37.34% and a return on equity of 7.11%. The company had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This represents a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Roth Capital lowered 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 raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.33.

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.