The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires New Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 78,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,299,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Roth Capital downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.83 per share, for a total transaction of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.0%

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $75.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 0.75. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $72.76 and a one year high of $92.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $80.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.86.

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

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

Assured Guaranty Company 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.