Intech Investment Management LLC Has $11.57 Million Stock Position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. $AGO

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 136,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,464 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $11,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 3,391.7% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Assured Guaranty by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,080.6% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $86.74 on Friday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $74.09 and a fifty-two week high of $93.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $87.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.94.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.78. The business had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.83 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 40.65%.The firm’s revenue was up 77.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. Analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AGO shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Assured Guaranty in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Assured Guaranty has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Guaranty Ltd Assured sold 4,562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.31, for a total transaction of $65,282.22. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,269,690 shares in the company, valued at $75,409,263.90. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 10,701 shares of company stock valued at $154,990 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

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.