Summit Global Investments Acquires New Shares in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 13,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,094,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings 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 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 worth $21,024,000 after acquiring an additional 16,235 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $553,000. 92.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Capital cut shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. UBS Group raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Assured Guaranty from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Assured Guaranty has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.33.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total transaction of $77,813.04. Following the sale, the director owned 9,307 shares in the company, valued at $691,696.24. The trade was a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured purchased 209,388 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.83 per share, with a total value of $5,199,104.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,212,106 shares in the company, valued at $30,096,591.98. This represents a 20.88% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of AGO stock opened at $76.68 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.76 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 0.75.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 37.34%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

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.