Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Reduces Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd decreased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 58.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,712 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 293.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 126,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,773,000 after acquiring an additional 94,486 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at $870,000. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty in the second quarter valued at $1,691,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter worth about $1,088,000. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.8% during the third quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 977,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,751,000 after buying an additional 71,114 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $90.05 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.81. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.11. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $71.11 and a 12-month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The firm had revenue of $269.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. Assured Guaranty’s revenue was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 19,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

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.