12,919 Shares in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO Purchased by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 12,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,036,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 309.2% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO opened at $73.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $79.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.28. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $72.76 and a 52 week high of $92.39.

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

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AGO. 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 research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,212,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,096,591.98. This trade represents a 20.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.