Long Focus Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Long Focus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 14.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 320,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,000 shares during the quarter. Assured Guaranty accounts for 0.9% of Long Focus Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Long Focus Capital Management LLC owned about 0.69% of Assured Guaranty worth $27,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 58.3% during the second quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,791,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,549,000 after purchasing an additional 660,009 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,333,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $112,840,000 after purchasing an additional 144,841 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,145,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,929,000 after purchasing an additional 92,148 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,035,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,683,000 after purchasing an additional 69,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 540,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,779,000 after buying an additional 108,280 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total value of $65,282.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,269,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,409,263.90. This trade represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $723,000.58. This represents a 12.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 11,920 shares of company stock worth $261,214 in the last ninety days. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AGO shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $83.56 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16 and a beta of 0.90. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $74.09 and a 52-week high of $92.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $86.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.78. The company had revenue of $277.00 million during 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%.Assured Guaranty’s revenue for the quarter was up 77.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. Research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 14.84%.

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.