IMC Chicago LLC Purchases Shares of 16,093 Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

IMC Chicago LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 16,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,446,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AGO. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 176.3% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 366,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,935,000 after purchasing an additional 233,966 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 60.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 481,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,957,000 after purchasing an additional 182,004 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 12.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,333,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,840,000 after purchasing an additional 144,841 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 285.8% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 155,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,139,000 after purchasing an additional 114,979 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 218.1% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 162,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,765,000 after purchasing an additional 111,498 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In related news, Director Francisco L. Borges sold 123,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total value of $9,927,225.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 176,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,195,089.44. This trade represents a 41.15% decrease in their position. The sale 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 242,718 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.72 per share, for a total transaction of $5,999,988.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,002,718 shares in the company, valued at $24,787,188.96. This represents a 31.94% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 174,969 shares of company stock worth $14,096,948 in the last quarter. 5.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AGO. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $108.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.50.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $80.80 on Monday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $78.77 and a fifty-two week high of $92.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.89 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.63.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 45.31% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The business had revenue of $277.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 77.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.84%.

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.