Vest Financial LLC Buys 11,277 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,277 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Assured Guaranty worth $5,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AGO. Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth about $642,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 204.5% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,820,000 after purchasing an additional 22,924 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 32.9% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 1,722 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 23.5% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 132.7% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 1,731 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In other Assured Guaranty news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 3,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.72, for a total value of $55,671.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,276,372 shares in the company, valued at $77,668,195.84. This represents a 0.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 8,437 shares of company stock valued at $129,237 in the last 90 days. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of AGO opened at $84.87 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.02. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $74.09 and a 1-year high of $96.50. The company has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 0.91.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $207.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.76 million. Assured Guaranty had a net margin of 40.65% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 16.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on AGO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Assured Guaranty from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Zacks Research raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.00.

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.