Oak Thistle LLC Increases Holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Oak Thistle LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 174.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,613 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $1,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 61.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,198,000 after buying an additional 22,486 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 7.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,024,000 after buying an additional 16,235 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 8.9% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 99.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth about $553,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Francisco L. Borges sold 123,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total value of $9,927,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 176,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,195,089.44. The trade was a 41.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 29,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $2,442,137.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,264,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,926,255.95. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 185,670 shares of company stock worth $14,251,938. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO opened at $83.33 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.65. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $75.98 and a 12-month high of $92.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.50.

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.