Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 37,800 Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 37,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,080,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. owned 0.08% of Assured Guaranty at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 22,486 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 7.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 16,235 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 8.9% during the second 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 in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 99.5% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the second quarter valued at approximately $553,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Assured Guaranty

In other news, Director Lorin Radtke sold 1,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $691,696.24. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 50,000 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.62, for a total transaction of $3,931,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 256,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,146,453.62. This represents a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of AGO opened at $82.42 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.97 and a 200 day moving average of $82.46. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.76 and a twelve month high of $92.39.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $1.00. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 40.45%.The business had revenue of $261.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.18 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Roth Capital cut Assured Guaranty from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group raised Assured Guaranty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Assured Guaranty from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.33.

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.