Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Stock Holdings Lifted by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 221.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 31,280 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.09% of Assured Guaranty worth $3,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Assured Guaranty by 183.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 155.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 31,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $110,423,321.19. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report 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.

Assured Guaranty Stock Down 0.1 %

Assured Guaranty stock opened at $93.28 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52 week low of $67.25 and a 52 week high of $96.60. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $85.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 70.37% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.63%.

Assured Guaranty 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.