Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Short Interest Update

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,203,675 shares, a growth of 19.2% from the February 12th total of 1,010,185 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 276,535 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Based on an average trading volume of 276,535 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 5,269,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,409,263.90. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total value of $106,223.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,000.58. The trade was a 12.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 11,920 shares of company stock valued at $261,214 in the last 90 days. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assured Guaranty

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 61.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after acquiring an additional 22,486 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.3% in the 1st 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 valued at $21,024,000 after acquiring an additional 16,235 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at $247,000. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at $270,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:AGO traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $83.37. 259,793 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 305,458. Assured Guaranty has a fifty-two week low of $74.09 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 0.90. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.76.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 45.31% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The company had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Assured Guaranty’s revenue for the quarter was up 77.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.