Entropy Technologies LP Buys 6,771 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Entropy Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 170.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,771 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 61.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,198,000 after buying an additional 22,486 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 7.3% during the first 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 worth $21,024,000 after buying an additional 16,235 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 99.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter valued at $553,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Roth Capital lowered Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings raised Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $103.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.67.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock opened at $85.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.75. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.76 and a twelve month high of $92.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $79.39 and its 200 day moving average is $82.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $261.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.63 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.Assured Guaranty’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.45%.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,146,453.62. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 242,718 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.72 per share, with a total value of $5,999,988.96. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,002,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,787,188.96. The trade was a 31.94% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 5.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Assured Guaranty

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.