River Road Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

River Road Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 666,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,026,000. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.22% of Assured Guaranty at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 183.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 155.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 55.7% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

AGO opened at $81.43 on Tuesday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $63.66 and a twelve month high of $96.60. The stock has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.45 and its 200-day moving average is $79.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $202.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.05 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 61.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 43.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.08%.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $2,480,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,380,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,423,321.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $2,480,310.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,380,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AGO. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $87.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The company offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.