De Lisle Partners LLP Makes New $3.19 Million Investment in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 39,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,186,000. De Lisle Partners LLP owned about 0.09% of Assured Guaranty at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 633.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 309.2% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Assured Guaranty in the 3rd quarter valued at $68,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total transaction of $77,813.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,696.24. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured bought 209,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

AGO opened at $74.31 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.75. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $72.76 and a 52 week high of $92.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.