6,843 Shares in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO Acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $615,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,589,000 after purchasing an additional 131,195 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,262,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,480,000 after purchasing an additional 132,351 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $96,929,000 after purchasing an additional 92,148 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in 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 valued at $87,683,000 after purchasing an additional 69,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at $51,538,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 256,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,146,453.62. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $77,813.04. Following the sale, the director owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at $691,696.24. The trade was a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 174,797 shares of company stock worth $13,936,038 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AGO stock opened at $76.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 0.76. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $72.76 and a 52-week high of $92.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.49.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.45% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The firm had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Roth Mkm lowered Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.33.

Assured Guaranty Profile

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.