Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Purchased by Wealthstar Advisors LLC

Wealthstar Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 279.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,358 shares during the quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty in the first quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,306,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $596,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $182,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 31st.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

NYSE:AGO traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $78.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 235,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 494,495. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $54.30 and a fifty-two week high of $96.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.21 and a 200-day moving average of $80.50.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.55. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 57.45% and a return on equity of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $245.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Assured Guaranty’s revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 3,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total transaction of $311,806.93. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 16,036 shares in the company, valued at $1,281,757.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 40,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.12, for a total transaction of $3,124,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,410,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,213,570.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Laura Bieling sold 3,901 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total transaction of $311,806.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 16,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,281,757.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,901 shares of company stock worth $5,834,807 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

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.