Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO Stock Holdings Lifted by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $2,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGO. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 210.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 2,956 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 55.5% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 6,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 2,405 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 474.7% during the third quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 5,967 shares during the period. James Investment Research Inc. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 8.2% during the third quarter. James Investment Research Inc. now owns 14,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBL Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth approximately $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

AGO stock opened at $71.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.73. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $67.24 and a 1 year high of $92.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.97.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter. The company 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, research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AGO shares. Roth Capital raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. 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 note on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group set a $91.00 price target on Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.00.

About Assured Guaranty

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE: AGO) is a Bermuda-based financial services company that provides credit protection products through its operating insurance subsidiaries. The company’s core business is financial guaranty insurance, which generally guarantees the payment of scheduled principal and interest on debt obligations if the issuer or borrower defaults.

Assured Guaranty primarily serves the public finance and infrastructure markets. Its guarantees support municipal bonds and other public-sector debt, as well as obligations related to transportation, utilities, social infrastructure and other essential-service projects.